Belgian regulator BIPT imposed an €85,000 fine on Sewan. BIPT alleges that the French telecom operator incorrectly completed the register for premium-rate telephone numbers, which prevented customers from fighting unexpected service fees.
Sewan provides Internet, telephony and cloud services through Proximus’ Belgian network. Sewan was recently fined €85,000 by BIPT, Belgium’s national telecom regulator.
According to BIPT, Sewan did not correctly fill in the register for 070x and 090x numbers. These numbers are used for premium-rate services, such as information provided by call centers.
Registering premium-rate numbers
Sewan is supposed to maintain a register of the companies that use premium-rate numbers. Because the register makes companies identifiable, they’re less likely to dupe consumers into expensive calls. If a consumer faces unexpected service fees, the consumer can find the company and file a complaint.
The register holds address information, details on the services provided and ways of contacting the companies providing them. According to BIPT, Sewan failed to accurately fill in mandatory identification fields. Resultingly, consumers were unable to fight unexpected charges. BIPT imposed an €85,000 fine on Sewan.
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