Incorrect telemarketing. That is, those calls that come from numbers of all kinds and all countries, always unwelcome, that propose contracts based on often misleading information.

This is the practice that has led the Competition and Market Authority to initiate, also thanks to the investigative activity carried out by the Guardia di Finanza, seven preliminary proceedings against call center companies that promote the conclusion of contracts in the energy sector - Action Srl, Fire Srl, J.Wolf Consulting Srl and Noma Trade Srl   - and in the telecommunications sector - Entiende Srl, Nova Group Srl and My Phone Srl.

The Antitrust's intervention aims to combat the phenomenon of unfair telemarketing, well known to the Authority which, as stated in a note, "receives numerous reports every day complaining about receiving telephone calls to conclude contracts based on misleading information".

The call centers involved in the investigations would have contacted consumers proposing the activation of energy and telephone contracts, based on misleading information about the identity of the caller, the subject of the call, the economic convenience of the proposed commercial offers. Moreover, numbers disguised with the so-called CLI spoofing technique were often used, which allows the manipulation of the telephone number identifier. The telemarketing methods would be various, all sharing the transmission of non-transparent and misleading information.

In the energy sector, it has emerged that telephone operators often present themselves as employees of the current supplier or of the Regulatory and Control Authority and would define the applied tariffs as inconvenient. In other cases, they would present technical problems or difficulties in the current switching that would make it necessary to stipulate a new supply contract.

In the telecommunications sector, however, during phone calls - to induce the consumer to change operator - false disservices on the line or imminent price increases of the service by the operator of the user called would be presented. Other times, consumers would be induced to activate a new offer (with another operator or even with the one with which they have already contracted), after having been presented with particularly favorable contractual conditions that later turn out to be false.

Yesterday, inspections were carried out at the offices of the companies involved in the investigation, in collaboration with the Special Unit of the Guardia di Finanza.

Enrico Fresu

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