HomeServe and nPower face £2m fines over repeated silent calls

Customers bombarded after glitch in call-centre technology – leading to Ofcom ruling against two firms Communications regulator Ofcom has evidence that nPower and HomeServe have been breaching the rules around silent and abandoned calls that could lead to a fine of up to £2m. Ofcom has issued a notification to both companies under the Communications Act as part of an ongoing investigation into activities that took place between 1 February 2011 and 21 March 2011. Ofcom said it has reasonable grounds to believe HomeServe and nPower “persistently misused an electronic communications network or services by virtue of its use of an automated calling system”. The evidence shows that HomeServe made an excessive number of abandoned calls during the period investigated; and made one or more repeat calls to specific numbers within 24 hours, when a call had been identified by Answer Machine Detection equipment as having been put through to an answer machine. Ofcom said nPower broke the rules by including marketing content within a recorded information message played in the event of an abandoned call. The notification gives both groups until 10 August 2011 to reply and take steps to “cease the misuse identified” or they could face fines of up to £2m each. On January 31 2011 Ofcom warned the industry to comply with new rules to clamp down on silent calls or face enforcement action, writing specifically to the call centre industry to spell out the regulations. The new rules place restrictions on the use of automated dialling equipment to prevent consumers being harassed by repeated silent calls from the same company. The technology is used by call centre operators to detect answer machines. But this can mistake a “live” consumer for an answering machine and cut off the call without the person hearing anything, resulting in a silent call. Ofcom said they can cause “significant distress” to consumers which can be made worse by repeated calls, leading to some people believing they are being specifically targeted. Ofcom received more than 9,000 complaints in 2010 about silent calls. Over 70% of those who complained told the regulator they had received two or more calls in a day from the same company. These silent calls were often over a period of days or even weeks. An nPower spokesman said: “Our average abandon rate has been consistently below the regulatory 3%. Ofcom’s concerns relate to individual non-consecutive days in which the rate exceeded this level. We believe that our prompt reminder to make energy savings is fully consistent with energy policy and does not constitute marketing.” A HomeServe statement said: “HomeServe confirms that this limit was exceeded by a single outsourced supplier. This fact was uncovered by our own internal audit processes, verified by independent, external auditors and reported to Ofcom on 26 April, 2011. The problem resulted from the use of answering machine detection (AMD) technology, and was remedied immediately upon discovery. “HomeServe takes the Ofcom regulations very seriously and as a result, AMD is no longer used on any HomeServe outbound calls, whether they originate in our own or in outsourced call centres. HomeServe has reviewed its internal control processes and can confirm that all of its internal and external dialler systems are now fully compliant with the new Ofcom regulations regarding silent/abandoned calls.” CPR Global , which manufactures call-blocking devices for use in the home, pointed out that Ofcom’s new rules do not apply to the 31% of nuisance calls that come from overseas companies. A spokeswoman said: “Cold calling can affect people in different ways and for those who suffer from Alzheimer’s, dementia or even depression, the calls can have dire effects on their anxiety levels which can result in adverse health implications. “Our Call Blocker is pre-programmed with 200 telemarketers and scam telephone numbers that are recognised as being the most persistent companies to CPR Global. Its unique ‘block now’ application means 100 extra telephone numbers can be blocked.” Consumers receiving nuisance calls should also join the telephone preference service register , although it takes up to 28 days after registering for all to be stopped, and complain to PhonepayPlus , the regulator for all UK premium rate phone services. Consumer affairs Internet, phones & broadband Ofcom Homeserve Mark King guardian.co.uk

Posted by on July 7, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.