RIC: Call centres illegal

While the Regulated Industries Commission (RIC) yesterday said they had no desire to close down the estimated 51 international calling centres around the country, they are urging them to go through the proper channels of obtaining a licence to operate. However, continuing operations in defiance of orders by the RIC to close their doors and cease operating will be deemed “illegal” by the RIC, who will be left with no option but to employ suitable legal action against the centres if these orders are not complied with. This was yesterday stated at a press conference hosted by the RIC, at its office at Furness House.

Chairman of the RIC, Denis Pantin, sought to clear up some of the public misconceptions which claimed that the RIC had ordered the centres to close down. He said, “We have said to them, you operate a telephone service and you need a licence, and until such time you have a licence you should cease operations.” Pantin said of the two decisions taken by the RIC last week, the first offered permanent, positive impact on 268,000 customers of TSTT, while the second provided a temporary setback for the call centres and those who are utilising their services. Pantin claimed, “The RIC has acted without fear in deciding that TSTT’s Rate of Return is in excess of the 15 percent, and we have acted without favour in concluding that the call centres fall within the RIC’s current regulatory remit and require a licence to operate.”

The RIC has since been informing calling centre owners/operators via letters that they have one week’s grace to close their doors, otherwise they would be operating illegally. When contacted by Newsday as to whether they intended to apply for a licence to operate, spokesperson for the Association of Calling Centres, Michael Harris, remained adamant that they did not fall under the purview of the RIC, and therefore could not be regulated by this body. He accused the regulatory body of “not understanding the technology” involved, adding that they “had opened up a pandora’s box.”

Questioned about whether the association would be meeting with the RIC to discuss the matter, Harris replied that their lawyers would be handling all correspondence dealing with this matter. The RIC revealed that an internal investigation had been launched into TSTT’s high Rate of Return in July last year, and said an independent consultant also corroborated their findings which indicated that TSTT was consistently in excess of the stipulated 15 percent Rate of Return. Concerning these high rates, the RIC requested TSTT to reduce both their local and international rates, in addition to ordering the call centres to stop conducting business.

It remains to be seen whether TSTT will indeed comply with these orders, but according to Pantin, “The RIC recognises TSTT as a responsible body and does not anticipate that it will not act other than with the highest level of social corporate responsibility.” Executive director of the RIC, Harjinder Atwal-Singh, told Newsday that the calling centres must first apply to the Ministry of Public Utilities and the Environment for a licence to operate, and that the RIC is currently in the process of assimilating a criteria for these owners/operators to satisfy before they are granted a licence. He refused to speculate on whether applications sent for review by the Commission would be approved. Efforts to contact officials of TSTT proved futile. (See page 15).