Any unlicensed dialler service ICSTIS finds, either through public complaints or its own in-house monitoring, will be shut down immediately under the regulator's emergency powers.
In the last week, ICSTIS has barred 11 companies that were running dialler services without having obtained permission to operate. It will decide on the status of a further 33 companies later this week.
ICSTIS' clampdown follows the recent surge in complaints from members of the public claiming that their Internet dial-up connections have been diverted to premium rate numbers without their knowledge or consent.
As well as introducing the licensing regime, ICSTIS has imposed strict revenue retention requirements on companies operating dialler services to help ensure that those wanting to rip people off do not get paid.
UK consumers have also been ripped off by internet dial-up connections to international direct dial numbers. ICSTIS has notified all phone networks that there are no legitimate dialler services using international numbers and has continued to advise them to cut off any such services that they find.
George Kidd, ICSTIS Director, said:
"This is a further stage in our action to stamp out rogue diallers. We have only granted permission to those companies that satisfy our stringent requirements, covering key areas such as clear terms and conditions, user consent, information about how to delete diallers, and responsibility for customer refunds. Any company we find running a dialler without our permission will be cut off immediately."
"But others must also play their part. Phone networks that give out premium rate numbers in the first place must not give out any numbers for dialler services unless they see evidence of a licence to operate from us. They also have a duty to carry out thorough checks on those they give numbers to and to look at the speed at which they pass money on to them. Billing phone companies have the systems to identify suspicious call patterns and should take action before their customers unknowingly run up huge bills."
