The news comes in the same week that the UK's premium-rate phone
regulator said that the number of complaints about mobile services
is rocketing.
The office of EU Consumer Commissioner Meglena Kuneva has
pledged Europe-wide action against rogue traders, some of whom were
found to be targeting children and young people.
"Far too many people are falling victim to costly surprises from
mysterious charges, fees and ring-tone subscriptions they learn
about for the first time when they see their mobile phone bill,"
said Kuneva. "There will be Europe wide enforcement action to track
down each of these traders."
A co-ordinated series of checks by EU member states found that
half of the 500 sites looked at targeted children, using cartoon
characters and TV characters to attract them.
Almost half of the sites checked had irregularities relating to
the price of services, and many subscriptions involving multiple
cost-inducing events did not ever mention the word
subscription.
The people behind most of the websites checked were hard to
identify. More than 70% of the sites checked lacked information
needed to contact the trader behind the site.
"This is against EU law," said a Commission statement. "The
E-commerce Directive requires details of the service provider,
including an email address, to be displayed."
"We need to get a clear message out particularly to teenagers
and children – be on your guard. It's all about the small
print," said Kuneva "There are many reputable traders out there,
but to be safe buying these services, check the fine print every
time and make sure you are not signing up for more than you
bargained for."
The UK's premium rate phone regulator PhonepayPlus (PPP) this
week announced that the market for mobile phone premium rate
services was mushrooming, and that £460 million was spent in the
last year on those services in the UK.
"However, an extraordinary increase in complaints has
accompanied this growth. PhonepayPlus received more than 8,000
mobile-related complaints in 2007/8, an 108% increase on the
previous year," the regulator said.
