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Phone resellers 'will be cracked down on'

Mobile phone operators must be more honest when selling handsets to consumers, Ofcom said yesterday.

The regulator said that it would make its existing voluntary code on misleading phone selling compulsory, in order to lessen the risk of people being left out of pocket.

In particular, phone "slamming" - the practice of cold-calling people offering phone upgrades, but in reality tying them into expensive contracts - will be cracked down on.

Often, the "slammers" are employed by major phone networks who have not employed sufficient vetting of resellers.

The proposals have now been put out to consultation - and the regulator expects that they will begin to be enforced later in the year.

Ed Richards, chief executive of Ofcom, said: "The UK has one of the more competitive mobile phone sectors in the world, but strong competition is no excuse for marketing malpractice."

He added: "We warned the industry last year that unless it cleaned up its act we would consider introducing new rules.

"The facts show that this hasn't happened, so we are now proposing tougher measures to protect consumers from unacceptable sales and marketing practices."

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