Advanced VoIP Solutions Ltd fined £180,000
Article added: 11/06/2016
Cheshire based Advanced VoIP Solutions Ltd has been fined £180,000 by the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) for sending automated voice messages to consumers.
The £180,000 monetary penalty notice was issued to Advanced VoIP Solutions Ltd as a result of an ICO investigation prompted by 6,381 complaints.
The recorded messages related to some of the most complained about nuisance calls including Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), Flight Delays and Packaged Bank Accounts. Some complainants said they were getting repeat calls, in some cases on the same day and more so despite following the instructions in the messages on how to opt out.
Steve Eckersley, head of enforcement at the ICO said:
“The number of complaints in this case is just a drop in the ocean compared to the millions of calls we think this company has made.”
“We have sent out a clear message to companies who behave in this way - however much you try and dodge the law, it won’t work, and we will act.”
This fine was part of a wider investigation into a complex network of companies which included an ICO raid on a call centre in south Manchester. At the height of the automated call campaign, two telephony network providers claimed their services had been disrupted by the volume of calls being made by the business.
The law on making automated calls playing recorded messages comes under the Privacy Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR) and is therefore stricter than on other ‘normal’ marketing calls. Organisations can only make automated marketing calls to people who have specifically consented to receiving them.
Advanced VoIP Solutions Ltd Monetary Penalty Notice as issued by the ICO
ICO raid as part of an ongoing investigation