Ofcom cracks down on VoIP mis-selling

Industry watchdog Ofcom has extended the rules protecting consumers from fixed-line telephony mis-selling to include voice services offered over the internet.

Providers that use full Local Loop Unbundling technology to run voice and broadband services now come under the remit of Ofcom's guidelines for marketing and sales activities.

This includes mis-selling tactics such as 'slamming' where customers are switched to another operator without their knowledge.

According to the current Ofcom requirements, providers now have to establish and comply with a code of conduct for their sales and marketing teams in accordance with the watchdog's guidelines.

Commenting on Ofcom's extended influence, the watchdog's chief executive, Ed Richards, said: "We want competition and choice to continue to grow and we want consumers to benefit from these changes.

"Extending these rules and our enforcement activity will protect consumers from inappropriate sales and marketing techniques."

Mis-selling of fixed-line call services has become a major issue investigated by Ofcom and it has received thousands of complaints from consumers that companies have broken the guidelines since they were first introduced in 2005, but more are expected due to the extension into VoIP.