ICO fines two energy companies £550,000 under PECR for making illegal robocalls
25/09/2025 | ICO
The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has issued a public warning after fining two energy companies a total of £550,000 for making automated marketing calls, a violation of Regulation 19 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR).
- Home Improvement Marketing Ltd (HIM) has been fined £300,000 and issued with an enforcement notice ordering it to cease its unlawful practices.
- Green Spark Energy Ltd (GSE) has been fined £250,000 for making 9.5 million automated marketing calls and issued with an enforcement notice.
In a LinkedIn post commenting on the news, data protection specialist Jon Baines considers a legal point not "fully addressed" in the enforcement action. Baines notes that Article 13 of the EU Directive 2002/58/EC, which PECR implemented, prohibits the use of automated calling systems for direct marketing (without consent) where such systems operate "without human intervention." He goes on to explain the significance of those words and highlights that while PECR does not include the wording "without human intervention", the question should be asked as to whether Article 13 "can, or must, be used as an interpretative guide to regulation 19 of PECR", particularly since it appears that human involvement is present in this case. However, Baines concludes that this may ultimately be a moot point, as the ICO could have likely relied on other provisions to impose fines on the organisations involved.
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