Record fine for GMTV phone provider
Icstis say more than 18 million people were affected by "worst case" it has seen
Monday, 24, Sep 2007 05:40
Opera Telecom, the telephone service provider for GMTV, has been handed a £250,000 fine for its part in a TV phone-in-fixing scandal.
Premium rate regulator Icstis has handed out the biggest fine in its 21-year history after it emerged that some 18 million people had been routinely charged up to £1.80 for competition entries, even though they had no chance of winning.
As part of "the worst case which Icstis had come across in terms of the numbers of consumers affected and the amount of money at stake", Opera Telecom will also be banned from running competition services for 12 months.
Confirming the fine, Icstis chief executive George Kidd said Opera Telecom "showed a reckless disregard for the interests of callers, with scant evidence of any attention being given to compliance with our code of practice".
GMTV phone-ins were suspended in April following an investigation from BBC1's Panorama, which claimed that around £10 million per year was being earned from phone-in competitions.
Icstis found that, over a four-year period, competition winners had been picked by Opera Telecom before the phone lines closed.
Mr Kidd added: "Today's adjudication sends a clear message to any company offering phone-paid services: your absolute responsibility is to the public who use your services.
"Cutting corners for the sake of convenience or to boost revenues is simply unacceptable and has serious consequences."
In a statement on its website, Opera Telecom said it "continues to apologise unreservedly for the occurrence of these errors and has worked diligently with GMTV to put in place remedies following its own and GMTV's investigations".
"Opera Telecom fully accepts the adjudication of Icstis as fair and equitable and is working closely with Icstis to ensure that it remains compliant with all regulations and recommendations moving forward," the statement continued.
"A third party has been identified and will independently verify Opera Telecom’s full compliance, its compliance culture, policies and governance arrangements."
An ITV spokesman said the broadcaster would not be releasing a comment on the Icstis ruling.