DMA welcomes Ofcom fine of Npower over abandoned phone calls
The conclusion of an Ofcom investigation has today found npower, the gas and electricity supplier, to be in breach of rules on abandoned calls resulting in a fine. This has been welcomed by the Direct Marketing Association, who said that that setting examples like this are vital in deterring companies from breaching telemarketing laws.
An abandoned call is a phone call which, as soon as the consumer picks up the receiver, an information message is played instead of a person being on the other end of the line.
npower made 1,756 abandoned calls to UK consumers over a seven-week period, between 1 February 2011 and 21 March 2011
Taking into account this offer to compensate consumers, the number of occasions that npower was non-compliant with the rules, Ofcom imposed a fine of £60,000 on npower.
Mike Lordan, chief of operations for the Direct Marketing Association, said: "We welcome Ofcom's action. Abandoned calls can cause distress to a person at home, which in turn bring the UK telemarketing industry into disrepute and undermines consumers' confidence in the value of the channel.
“The vast majority of the industry complies with the law and adheres to the highest standards of best practice. It's vital that Ofcom continues to use its powers effectively to deter the small minority of companies breaching telemarketing laws from continuing to do so," he added.
Ofcom’s consumer group director, Claudio Pollack, added: “Our rules are there to protect consumers from suffering annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety from abandoned calls.
“Organisations using call centres must comply with the rules or face the consequences. Where we find there to be breaches, even at the lower end of the scale, we can exercise our powers and take action.”