Kalastia Consulting Limited (Case reference: 191534)
| Published date | 16 June 2023 |
| Year | 2023 |
| Case Number | 191534 |
| Adjudicated Party | Kalastia Consulting Limited |
1
Settlement case reportfor Kalastia Consulting Limited
Introduction
1.The Phone-Paid Services Authority(‘PSA’)opened an investigation into Kalastia
Consulting Limited (‘Kalastia’) on the 27 April 2021.
2.Kalastiacontracted with a number of merchant providerswho provided subscription-
basedalerts service.Between January 2018 and 14 November 2020, the PSA received
a combined total of 3,047 complaints across the relevant merchant providers. A
number of investigations were opened in respect of the merchant providers, some of
which resulted in Tribunal adjudications which upheld breaches.
3.The PSA noted that whileall of the merchant providers were separate legal entities
who operated different premium rate services, the nature of the complaints being
received as well asthe nature of the potential non-compliance as evidenced within
those complaintsraised concerns regarding the level of due diligence, risk assessment
and control that was being performed by Kalastia.
4.By way of background, Kalastia contracted with all of the merchant providers directly
andalso contracted with an intermediary, Dynamic Mobile Billing (‘DMB’). DMB did
not contract directly with any of the merchant providers. In addition to this, Kalastia
also contracted with a third party which was not involved in the provision of any
premium rate service(‘PRS’)but which funds were paid to before being paid to any of
the merchant providers(Mobile Affiliated Limited ‘MAL’).
5.Following initial directions and requests for information to Kalastiaby the PSA, it
appeared that there was a dispute as to the role of Kalastia within the value chain.
Kalastia initially maintained that it only acted as a re-sellerwith no technical function
andthat it did not therefore fall within the remit of the 14thedition of the Code of
Practice (‘Code 14’) which was the Code of Practice in force at the time.
6.Based on the responses provided by Kalastia, in May 2020the PSA initially determined
that Kalastia fell outside of the remit of Code 14. However after being provided with
further evidence from DMB, the PSA revised this determination and concluded that
Kalastia was a Level 1 provider under Code 14in April 2021.
7.Following this determination, the PSA opened a case in respect of Kalastia. Although
the PSA wasoriginally concerned aboutthe effectiveness ofKalastia’s due diligence,
risk assessment and control on its merchant providers, by this time the merchant
providers had ceased operating and DMB had terminated its contract with Kalastia.
The PSA’s investigation therefore focused on the failure of Kalastia to provide
information when directed to do so and also its concealment/provision of false and
misleading information regarding its role within the value chainand the compliance
monitoring that was undertaken in respect of the merchant providers.
Get this document and AI-powered insights with a free trial of vLex and Vincent AI
Get Started for FreeStart Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting
Start Your 3-day Free Trial of vLex and Vincent AI, Your Precision-Engineered Legal Assistant
-
Access comprehensive legal content with no limitations across vLex's unparalleled global legal database
-
Build stronger arguments with verified citations and CERT citator that tracks case history and precedential strength
-
Transform your legal research from hours to minutes with Vincent AI's intelligent search and analysis capabilities
-
Elevate your practice by focusing your expertise where it matters most while Vincent handles the heavy lifting