Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 12:

In page 103, to delete lines 24 to 27 and substitute the following: “124. (1) Where a trader operates a telephone line for the purpose of enabling a consumer to contact the trader in relation to a contract concluded by the consumer with the trader, the trader shall ensure that the telephone line is available to the consumer at a charge that does not exceed the basic rate.”.

The purpose of amendment No. 13 is to clarify the language of section 124(7) which defines "basic rate" as it applies to the charges for communication by telephone.

Specifically, the policy aim of this section is to protect consumers from paying premium-rate fees for contacting trader helplines about their consumer contracts. The amended definition will give clarity to traders on the expectation as to what the basic-rate charge is for calls made to, for example, landlines and mobile phone numbers.

The new definition also adheres to the spirit of the recent judgment of the European Court of Justice, which ruled that call charges relating to a contract concluded with a trader to a telephone helpline operated by the trader may not exceed the cost of a call to a standard geographical landline or mobile telephone line.

Amendment No. 12 makes a slight adjustment to the wording of section 124(1) in order to take account of the revised definition of "basic rate" and does not change the policy intent of that subsection.

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