Watchdog bans 11 premium rate rogue diallers

Telecoms regulator Icstis (Independent Committee for the Supervision of Standards of Telephone Information Services) has cut off 11 rogue diallers, after the watchdog received a spate of complaints from UK consumers who said they had been put onto premium rate dial-up connections without their knowledge.

Following a rise in the percentage of complaints that were internet-related about premium rate services - from 43 per cent in 2002 to 70 per cent in 2003 - earlier this year, Icstis took action on the issue of rogue diallers by stipulating any company wishing to operate a premium rate connection must register with the regulator first.

Now, the watchdog is shutting down any unregulated services it comes across and has barred the 11 rogue diallers from this week. It's also considering a similar move for 33 other companies.

The regulator has advised phone companies to cut off any premium rate dialler services using international numbers too.

Icstis has also published a new factsheet to help surfers avoid being fleeced on the internet.

The Irish communications regulator ComReg also took steps to block the rogue diallers by cutting off calls to 13 countries in the South Pacific. BT also joined in the fight by blocking 1,000 of the dialler lines.