Vodafone has earned a slap on the wrist from the Australian Communications and Media Authority after the regulator found the telco’s telemarketers had been spamming unwitting consumers.
The ACMA investigation, sparked by “hundreds” of complaints regarding unsolicited phone calls to numbers on the Do Not Call Register, found Vodafone had breached the Do Not Call Register Act 2006.
An ACMA spokesperson told CRN the telco offered an enforceable undertaking and consequently no formal breach finding was made.
“The ACMA has found enforceable undertakings extremely effective in addressing Do Not Call compliance issues with telecommunications carriers,” the spokesperson said. “The undertaking puts into place systems and practices that will help to ensure the long term compliance of not only VHA but importantly its vast network of dealers where the real problem was identified.”
The telco blamed wayward dealers telemarketing products from both Vodafone and 3 Mobile. It has agreed to audit and report back to the ACMA on all its dealer activities, keep comprehensive records of telemarketing calls, and take greater responsibility for the oversight of its dealers. If its obligations are not met the company risks Federal Court action.
This is the second time Vodafone has fallen foul of the ACMA in as many months. In December last year the regulator threatened the telco with up to $250,000 of fines for failing to act on multiple network and privacy issues. It urged Vodafone to reform by February this year after finding the telco had contravened five sections of the Telecommunications Consumer Protection (TCP) code, and failed to properly communicate with customers following network issues throughout 2011 and late 2010.
Vodafone did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.
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