Mobvista Ltd (Case reference: 01640)
| Case Number | 01640 |
| Year | 2009 |
| Published date | 08 July 2009 |
| Adjudicated Party | Mobvista Ltd |
| Procedure Type | Emergency Procedure (Phone-Paid Services Authority) |
THE CODE COMPLIANCE PANEL OF PHONEPAYPLUS
TRIBUNAL DECISION
Thursday 25 June 2009 TRIBUNAL SITTING No. 30 / CASE 3
CASE REFERENCE: 775289/CB
Information provider & area: Mobvista Ltd, London
Service provider & area: Dialogue Communications Ltd,
South Yorkshire
Type of service: Virtual Chat Service
Service title: Mobvista Chat Service
Service number: 64333, 66696, 85599
Cost: £1.00 - £1.50 per service message received, 25p
for every user message sent.
Network operator: All Mobile Operators
Number of complainants: 43
THIS CASE WAS BROUGHT AGAINST THE INFORMATION PROVIDER BY AN
EMERGENCY PROCEDURE
UNDER PARAGRAPH 8.6 OF THE CODE
BACKGROUND
The PhonepayPlus Executive (the ‘Executive’) received a total of 43 complaints relating to
an adult virtual chat service that operated on shortcodes 64333, 66696 and 85599 (through
the MyTxt.co.uk Limited platform). The service had been promoted through television
adverts that were broadcast in the early hours of the morning on UK television channels. The
Executive was alerted to this service by complaints made by members of the public.
A number of complainants stated that the service continued to charge them for chat text
messages without any user interaction which resulted in high mobile phone bills. Some
complainants stated that they had been misled into interacting with the service because they
had been led to believe the operators were local women who genuinely used the service
rather than paid operators.
The Executive investigated the service and requested complainant message logs from the
Service Provider. These logs showed that the service sent message spend reminders to
users after they had spent £10 but continued to send them chargeable messages without
requiring a positive response from them that they wished to continue with the service
resulting in high mobile phone bills. The logs also showed that users were being misled by
the service operators into believing that they were chatting to genuine local girls rather than
fantasy chat operators.
The Service
The service was initially promoted to end users through print media, text message and in
particular television advertisements which had been shown on many channels including
those available on terrestrial and satellite television. The service offered the user the
To continue reading
Request your trial