Auction channel fined for breaching ad rules

A TV auction channel has been fined £10,000 (€15.000)) by a broadcasting regulator for breaching advertising rules, it was announced today.

It makes the station, Auctionworld, the first home shopping channel to be given a financial penalty by the UK's Independent Television Commission.

The channel broke ITC rules by failing to get bought products to viewers within the promised 28 days.

Auctionworld was launched in November 2001 and within the first few months the ITC said it received “a large number of complaints” claiming goods did not arrive within the advertised time.

The station was warned about its record but complaints continued and the ITC followed up 19 specific cases.

The channel said the delays were caused by its procedures to screen out fraud, but did not provide specific details to the ITC for any of the cases.

The ITC said “a substantial financial penalty was merited” because of the poor record and because it had been “less than open” in providing information to the ITC.

The commission noted Auctionworld’s delivery had “improved considerably in recent months and judged that a lower sum was appropriate”.

The fine is the first imposed by the ITC since July 2001.