Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

Consumers who have been overcharged or ripped off by premium rate telephone service providers will find it more difficult to seek redress once a new communications Bill become law, the chairman of RegTel has warned.

At the launch of what is expected to be its final report before its functions are transferred to the telecommunications watchdog ComReg, RegTel’s chairman Fred Hayden expressed concern at the manner in which the Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan had introduced the Communications Regulation (Premium Rate Services) Bill 2009.

The Bill proposes an end to self-regulation by the industry, which will in future be subject to supervision by ComReg. It proposes substantial fines for abuses by operators of popular phone services such as ringtones, wallpapers, chatlines, competitions and information services.