Energy firms fined for making more than 7.3m cold calls

Two firms in Yorkshire have been fined by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for calling people registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).

Bradford-based Energy Saving Centre, which offers services such as replacement windows and doors and guttering, made seven million calls over a seven-month period without screening them against the TPS register.

The ICO has fined the firm £250,000 because at least 34,000 of the calls were made to TPS subscribers.

In a separate case, Alex Goldthorpe, trading as Approved Green Energy Solutions, based in Brighouse, was fined £150,000 for making over 300,000 calls to TPS subscribers between April and July 2017.

Andy Curry, ICO enforcement group manager, said: “People register with the TPS for a clear reason – to stop unwanted marketing calls and protect their privacy. It is the first thing any responsible business should check when making live marketing calls.

“We are committed to taking strong action against firms calling people registered with the TPS, as these fines show.”

The ICO carried out investigations into the two firms after complaints made by members of the public.

Both firms bought the information used to make the phone calls from other companies and failed to check it against the TPS register to ensure the phone calls they were making complied with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).

Energy Saving Centre has also been issued with an enforcement notice ordering it to stop illegal marketing.