Calling card provider Nowtel agrees to make adverts clearer

International calling card provider Nowtel has agreed to change the way it advertises its calling cards following an Ofcom investigation.

The probe found that Nowtel’s advertisement of its international calling cards potentially breached consumer protection rules.

Ofcom worked with Nowtel to bring the potential contraventions to an end and to ensure there would be no future repetition.

Ofcom has now accepted a written undertaking committing Nowtel to make changes to its advertisements which is enforceable in the courts.

Advertisements

Nowtel has cooperated fully with Ofcom’s investigation and has committed to undertake changes to its advertisements so they:

• clearly state to consumers the headline number of minutes that they will receive and that minutes are reduced by certain fees and/or charges in a manner which is clear, intelligible and unambiguous;
• provide consumers with material information in a manner which is clear, intelligible or unambiguous, including but not limited to, connection fees and maintenance charges; and
• ensure that material information such as terms and conditions is displayed in clearly legible font.

Nowtel has until 1 October 2011 to comply with the undertaking, which includes replacing its existing advertisements in the market place.

Ofcom has now closed its investigation into Nowtel and will actively monitor compliance with the requirements of the undertaking.

In September 2010, Ofcom accepted a written undertaking from international calling card provider Lycatel to make a number of changes to its terms and advertising. Read more here.

International calling cards

Ofcom opened a monitoring and enforcement programme into the advertisement and sale of international calling cards in January 2011 following research which showed that consumers were often confused about the charges and terms and conditions of international calling cards.

Widely used by the UK’s large immigrant population looking to make cheap overseas calls, more than 5 million UK adults use international calling cards.

On average, these users spend £13 a month on calls, creating a market that is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of pounds a year.

ParentPort: Working together for media standards