A record 13,000 complaints were made against the operators of premium rate phone services last year, according to the regulator for the industry.
Many of these complaints were made by consumers who found themselves saddled with massive phone bills after unwittingly subscribing to a premium rate service, from which they were unable to unsubscribe.
However, RegTel, which is charged with monitoring the industry, admitted yesterday its plans to "name and shame" rogue operators were in abeyance because of a court challenge.
In RegTel's latest annual report, regulator Pat Breen says the four-fold increase in the number of complaints is unprecedented: "In many complaints investigated, consumers did not realise they had subscribed or 'opted-in' to a service. Misleading promotional material associated with these types of services and the failure to issue appropriate price warnings featured significantly".
Mr Breen blames the high level of complaints on "a small number of service providers who have failed to honour their obligations under RegTel's code of practice, and who show little regard for protecting vulnerable consumers".
Among the problems highlighted in the report are: a failure by premium phone companies to give information about the cost of their service; no information on how to unsubscribe; no contact details; and no price warning about spending limits. Subscribers to premium rate texts are supposed to be told when they have spent €20 on a service, with the maximum spend limited to €40, but in practice this rule is often breached.
"It appears that this is a deliberate policy used by some service providers to maximise revenue with little regard to consumer harm or the image of the industry," Mr Breen says. "It must be concluded that some service providers are reluctant to abide by the code of practice."
Complaints were also received from parents about adult material sent to their children, and about ringtones, logos and "wallpapers".
Another problem was caused by "rogue diallers" who surreptitiously disconnected consumers from their local internet provider and rerouted their computers to remote adult websites hiding behind premium rate numbers. Subscribers ended up with high phone bills because, unknown to them, they incurred premium rate charges every time they accessed the internet.
At one point in the report, Mr Breen says "firm action" has eliminated this activity, but later he says it would be "premature to proclaim this unscrupulous activity has been entirely eliminated".
"All the cases investigated were found to be in breach of the code. All consumers affected were refunded. In addition, the offending services were closed down." A knock-on effect was the decision by RegTel to close down prematurely its trial of adult premium rate services.
RegTel ordered over €100,000 in refunds last year because of breaches in competitions and promotions, tarot card services and long-duration phone calls.
Despite the high level of consumer dissatisfaction, the premium rate phone services sector continues to boom, with revenue growth of 17 per cent last year.
Irish people aged 14 and over spend an average €31 accessing such services each year.
