Tameside Energy Services Ltd

Breach details

What Serious breach of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
A high volume of unsolicited marketing calls to consumers that had registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) that continued despite customer complaints and requests to unsubscribe.
How much An unknown number of direct marketing calls resulting in 1,010 TPS complaints and 60 complaints directly to the ICO (8 of which were duplicates), making a total of 1,062 complaints.
When 26th May 2011 to 31 January 2013.
Why Failed to screen calls effectively against a current Telephone Preference Service (TPS) list or maintain an opt-out register.

Regulatory action

Regulator ICO
Action Monetary penalty of £45,000.
Enforcement notice issued to ensure that Tameside does not make unsolicited marketing calls to individuals registered with TPS, or who have notified Tameside that they do not want to receive further calls, within 28 days.
When 5 July 2013.

Why the regulator acted

Breach of act Breach of Regulation 21: repeatedly ignored provisions that marketing calls should not be made to individuals who had registered with TPS.
Known or should have known Concerns over PECR obligations were first raised by the Commissioner in May 2012. The volume of complaints made before and after the Commissioner’s letter of May 2012 would have made the company aware that they were continually breaching regulations.
Likely to cause damage or distress. The overall level of distress was assessed as substantial due to the very large numbers of individuals affected. A small number of individuals also personally suffered substantial levels of distress.