Crewe-based broadband and phone provider Ice Telecommunications Ltd (Ice Comms) has been fined £80,000 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after they were found to have made 72,682 unsolicited marketing (SPAM) calls to businesses registered with the CTPS or TPS between 13th Sept 2021 and 31st Jan 2022.
The ICO said they received 30 complaints about Ice, and the TPS advised it had written to the company on 19 occasions outlining complaint details, without response. The ICO’s investigation found that Ice was not able to provide copies of contracts with third party suppliers of marketing lists showing CTPS and TPS numbers suppressed. Furthermore, they even “continued to make illegal calls whilst under investigation” (oops).
Some of the complaints noted that they had received multiple calls from Ice Comms, often over a period of several months, and that the company had refused to take them off their mailing list or disclose where they got the details from. In response, the ICO hit the operator with a £80k fine and issued an enforcement notice ordering the company to stop making calls to CTPS and TPS registered numbers.
Andy Curry, ICO Head of Investigations, said:
“We are here to protect UK businesses, as well as the public, from unwanted marketing communications. It’s not acceptable that people in their place of work were made to feel uncomfortable all because they simply answered their phone.
The fact that a number is in the public domain does not give free rein to marketers to make calls to businesses. The law is clear. Before any marketing calls are made, numbers must be screened against the do not call register.
These fines are another clear message to companies flouting the law – we will take action to ensure the public and UK businesses are protected, and legitimate businesses complying with the law do not lose out.”
In its response, Ice Comms claimed to have conducted a “thorough investigation” and regrettably found that a “minority of staff” had breached the rules by extracting data from sites such as Yell.com. The provider added that they have since taken measures to prevent a reoccurrence.
