PSA fines company £885,000 for eight Code breaches
TCS Combined Solutions Ltd failed to obtain consumer consent from all subscribers before sending chargeable texts containing voucher alerts and discount codes.
The Phone-paid Services Authority (PSA) has fined a company £885,000 and banned it from the market for three years after it committed eight breaches of the PSA Code of Practice.
TCS Combined Solutions Ltd ran a subscription service called ‘DiscountMeDirect’ which operated at two different price points: a maximum of two £2.50 messages per week on one shortcode, or a maximum of three £1.50 messages per week on other shortcodes.
Following an oral hearing, the Tribunal found the breaches to be very serious. These breaches included failing to get consent to charge some consumers and failing to send spend reminders. You can read all the breaches in the Tribunal’s full decision.
The Tribunal reprimanded TCS, issued a fine of £885,000 and banned the company from the market for three years. It also ordered TCS to refund all customers who claim a refund.