Hundreds of complaints were made
A marketing firm in Coventry has been fined more than a quarter of a million pounds after making more than 16 million automated nuisance calls.
The financial penalty handed to Coventry-based Easyleads Limited brings the penalties handed out in the last week by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to companies behind illegal recorded messages to £610,000.
The firm, who is behind more than 16 million automated called about boiler grants, had more than 550 complaints made to the ICO about the calls.
In a statement confirming the fine, the ICO said Easyleads Ltd did not have specific consent from people that it made automated calls to.
The firm also broke the rules by not including a company name and contact details in the recorded message.
More than 550 complaints were made to the ICO about the calls, including from recipients of multiple messages or calls made in the early hours of the morning over the May 2017 bank holiday weekend.
ICO investigators said the firm had deliberately misled people by referring to a government scheme and the offer of a free boiler.
Andy Curry, ICO enforcement group manager, said: “We hear first-hand from people how utterly disruptive, annoying and sometimes distressing automated calls can be.
“Firms cannot expect to get away with intruding into people’s lives like this.
“We’re here to take action, like we’ve done today, to stamp out this modern day torment.
"When people report nuisance calls to the ICO, it helps us do that.”
Following the ICO’s investigation, Companies House posted plans for Easyleads Ltd to be struck off and dissolved.
The ICO said it was committed to recovering fines issued and would work with insolvency practitioners and liquidators if a company moves to insolvency after being fined.
Powers granted to the ICO under the Data Protection Act were used to fine the firm, which, according to documents lodged with Companies House, is based at an address in Birchfield Road, Coundon.
The official penalty notice issued to the firm stated that it had breached EU-wide regulations protecting individuals’ fundamental right to privacy in the electronic communications sector.
There's nothing to stop them setting up another firm and starting all over again.
