Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme Update
The March 2007 quarter is the first full quarter in which the TIO has been taking complaints under the Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme. Since December 2006, MPSI complaints have increased steadily.

The TIO recorded 3,189 Level 1 complaints, 65 Level 2 and 6 Level 3 complaints under the MPSI Scheme in the March 2007 quarter. These complaints generated 4,623 complaint issues. Of these complaints, 2,788 (60 per cent) related to Disputed Usage Charges, Service Not Requested. Complaints relating to an alleged failure to refer a customer with an unresolved complaint to the TIO accounted for 507 (10.9 per cent) complaints, whilst Disputed Usage charges, Opt Out Request Not Actioned accounted for 472 (10.2 per cent).

The TIO recorded a total of 3,836 possible breaches of the MPSI Scheme, with 63.6 per cent relating to clauses 5.3.1 and 5.3.2 and allegations that a complainant had been charged for MPSI services that were not requested. There were also 399 instances of possible breaches relating to an inability to “opt out”.

To date, the TIO has not confirmed any breaches of the MPSI Scheme, which is not surprising given that only six complaints under the MPSI Scheme have been investigated at Level 3.

The TIO is the escalated complaints handling body for the Mobile Premium Services Industry Scheme (MPSIS). The scheme was developed by providers of mobile phone services and mobile content and came into force late last year.
The scheme applies to all services that deliver content to mobile phones for a premium charge including by SMS. Mobile premium services include sports scores, music clips, mobile ring tones, wallpaper, games, chat rooms and age-restricted content delivered to mobile phones or other mobile devices, and billed by a mobile phone company.