The safeguards have been introduced in the wake of complaints
from consumers who had responded to adverts without realising the
ads were for a subscription service – leading to a nasty surprise
when they received their mobile bills.
The issue was highlighted recently after ICSTIS, the Independent
Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information
Services, received over 100 complaints from people who thought they
had bought the Crazy Frog ringtone at a price of £3, only to find
that they had also unwittingly signed up for a subscription service
costing £3 per week.
“The mobile phone operators have recognised that there is a need
for effective safeguards that help prevent consumers from becoming
victims of misleading advertising and that set out clearly what is
expected of content providers,” said ICSTIS Director George
Kidd.
He continued: “Teenagers are particularly vulnerable as they do
not always fully appreciate the conditions attached to such
services. Like the mobile operators, we are committed to ensuring
that these services can be used with confidence.”
The safeguards, which must be implemented by content providers
by the end of August, are being introduced at a network level by 3,
O2, Orange, T-Mobile and Vodafone.
They state that:
- A standard message that includes details of service charges and
billing frequency must be prominently displayed within any form of
advertising for a subscription text service. For TV advertising,
this new standard message must be permanent and static for the full
duration of the advert and accompanied with a voiceover. Further
rules on the font size to be used for this message ensure
visibility.
- Any mobile phone user joining a subscription text service must
be sent a free reply text message from the content provider
confirming the user’s subscription commitment. The service operator
must also provide a standard or free rate customer helpline number
and include this number in the reply text message.
- Any mobile phone user joining a subscription text service must
be sent a notification text message (either monthly or when £20 has
been spent on that service – whichever comes first) that reminds
the user how to unsubscribe.
- Service operators must operate a web site that includes terms
and conditions for the service.
The new safeguards are an extension of existing consumer
protection rules contained in the ICSTIS Code of Practice, and
build on the common ‘STOP’ command introduced 12 months ago by the
mobile phone industry to enable consumers to cancel subscription
services by texting the word ‘STOP’ to the text shortcode related
to their service.
This ‘STOP’ command will now be extended to cover any form of
text, WAP or media messaging-based marketing to enable consumers to
stop the receipt of any marketing messages.
In addition, ICSTIS has introduced a prior-permission
requirement for open-ended services that can cost users more than
£20 in total. Permission will only be granted if service providers
demonstrate that their services and advertising material meet
certain standards designed to prevent consumer confusion and
harm.
ICSTIS has also issued a statement of expectations, clarifying
how service providers should interpret the Code of Practice in
respect of the marketing of subscription services operating over
£20.
According to George Kidd:
“Spelling out our expectations through this
timely network initiative and our permissions process should help
content providers clearly understand what is expected of them, and
should help to maintain public trust in the rich variety of content
services available.”
