A SCOTTISH energy firm has been fined £160,000 after making more than 700,000 unsolicited marketing calls in a year.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has fined Glasgow-based energy-buying consortia Energy Prices Direct Limited (EPDL) after receiving over 30 complaints.
The company made the calls between January 2024 and January 2025 to individuals and businesses whose numbers were registered on the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) – the UK’s only “ do not call” register – and Corporate Telephone Preference Service (CTPS).
The ICO said this was a “clear breach of law”.
An investigation revealed that in some cases, employees failed to identify themselves as being from EPDL when making calls.
Andy Curry, ICO head of investigations, said: “Energy Prices Direct Limited showed a blatant disregard for laws designed to protect people and businesses from nuisance marketing.
“Not only was the company careless with its caller data, but employees were, in some cases, deceptive about their reasons for calling.
“They made an exceptionally high volume of unsolicited calls over a 12-month period, often in a persistent manner, in an attempt to sell services.”
He added: “This case highlights the importance of robust compliance checks when buying and using marketing data and we expect all organisations to have proper systems in place to prevent this level of unlawful marketing activity. Compliance with TPS and CTPS requirements is a legal obligation for all organisations conducting marketing calls.
“I am pleased that Energy Prices Direct Limited has now paid the fine we issued.
“Companies must understand that if they ignore the law and continue to bombard people with unwanted sales calls, we will not hesitate to take enforcement action.”
Enforcement action has been made under section 40 of the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and issued due to serious contravention of regulations 21 and 24 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
