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MUMBAI:
UK's premium rate regulator Icstis has handed out a fine of
a record 250,000 pounds to Opera Telecom, a company that ran
competitions on GMTV in the form of phone-in quizzes over
a period of four years.
Following
a persistent investigation by BBC's Panorama programme from
2003, it was revealed that viewers lost an estimated 20 million
pounds attempting to win the quizzes, the potential winners
of which, were selected before the lines closed. Opera Telecom
has already been sacked by MTV.
Approximately
18 million callers were charged, when they had no chance of
winning, Icstis said, with the average call for each call
pegged at more than one pound.
The
penalty is reportedly the largest penalty ever in Icstis'
21-year history and it has described it as "the worst
case which Icstis had come across in terms of the numbers
of consumers affected and the amount of money at stake."
Said
Icstis chief executive George Kidd,"Cutting corners for
the sake of convenience or to boost revenues is simply unacceptable.
It shows a reckless disregard for interests of callers."
Following
the imposition of the fine, two GMTV executives have already
resigned. What's more, GMTV is also likely to face a separate
fine in the region of 2.8 million pounds, from media regulator
Ofcom in the same matter.
In
statement, Opera Telecom said, "We continue to apologise
unreservedly for the occurrence of these errors and have worked
diligently with GMTV's investigations to put in place remedies."
The
company could face a 12-month ban from running competitions,
if it does not implement suggestions from an independent team
investigating its systematic failures. It must also refund
callers in full, Icstis is not satisfied by the current refund
scheme. Opera and GMTV are already offering refunds and free
prize draws to viewers who lost out.
The
Opera Telecom scandal is the latest in a series of revelations
about competitions on UK TV shows.
In
July, Icstis fined phone operator Eckoh 150,000 pounds in
the You Say, We Pay quiz on Channel 4. In August, it
issued a 30,000 pound penalty over the same channel's Deal
or No Deal to phone operator iTouch.
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