FF TD seeks moves to regulate ringtone providers

A Fianna Fáil TD has called on the communications regulator ComReg to put rules in place governing ringtone providers and other premium-rate phone services.

Earlier this year, the Director of Consumer Affairs caught a German firm overcharging Irish customers for downloading ringtones.

Michael Finneran, a member of the Oireachtas finance committee, said the matter highlighted the need to protect customers from such practices.

"At the moment, the popularity of ringtones had led to many people downloading them onto their phones," he said.

"They're doing this without realising that it's only part of a bundle of tones that they will be regularly billed for.

"In essence, they're signing up to a subscription plan and they wind up with bills that they don't expect they're going to get."