A Newcastle sole trader at the helm of a green energy company has been hit with a £50,000 fine for making calls to 194,000 individuals on the º£½ÇÊÓƵ's 'do not call' list.
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) penalised Darian Bishop, a sole trader operating as ECO4U in Newcastle, for making illegal marketing calls about boiler and solar panel grants, falsely implying an association with a Government scheme. The ICO, which enforces regulations against nuisance calls, revealed complaints from recipients who felt harassed and threatened by the calls.
Catherine Sankey, group manager at the ICO, said: "Feeling threatened or abused in your own home, simply because you picked up your phone, will never be acceptable. Our investigation clearly showed this individual was fully aware of the law in relation to making marketing calls yet went ahead and made them anyway."
She added: "Our fine shows that we will hold all those who flout the law to account, from sole trader to larger companies employing a number of staff, and should act as further warning that we continue to pursue and fine companies who choose to ignore the law in pursuit of financial gain.", reports .
The ICO has highlighted the illegality of marketing calls to individuals registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) for over 28 days without explicit consent. The Office's attention was drawn to Bishop amid rising numbers of complaints about energy and home improvement sectors, prompting an investigation in October 2023 following 21 complaints to the ICO and TPS.
Despite Bishop's claims of obtaining legitimate consent via a Facebook ad application form, contacted complainants reported not completing any form or not using Facebook. Complaints disclosed by the ICO include one individual's encounter: "Reminded caller about TPS scheme to which I belong. Was asked did I pay for it and there's no such thing and it doesn't work. I stated I would be reporting this cold call and was told I was being awkward, and the caller hung up. This is an invasion of my privacy again".
Another comment revealed the distress caused: "Think he said calling from Government company. Asked for me by name. When I said I wouldn't do anything over the phone he was asking if he had the right address and would send someone tomorrow. So very threatening".
A third example pointed out: "Although this company identified themselves as Echo Government Scheme Deal, they initially said they were calling on behalf of a Government scheme about my gas boiler. In short the call is dishonest. I'm concerned about companies claiming to have a government connection, talking about schemes that do exist – in this case the Green Deal – and trying to give their call a degree of official authority."
The ICO has determined that Bishop was well aware of the regulations regarding marketing calls after he acknowledged his awareness of the relevant law – an awareness underlined by a previous 2015 investigation into his involvement with persistent sales calls and misleading representations of a free boiler under the 'Green Deal'.
He failed to supply adequate information for individuals to recognise who was calling them, nor did he take proper measures to ensure compliance with the law, resulting in the ICO serving him both a £50,000 monetary penalty notice and an enforcement notice.
