INDEPENDENT MOBILE PHONE DEALERS ASSOCIATION, OFCOM AND CASHBACK

That this House welcomes the first meeting to take place between the Independent Mobile Phone Dealers Association (IMPDA) and Ofcom, the telecoms regulator; regards the opportunity presented to the IMPDA to give its views on the working relationship between dealers and the network providers and consumer issues, particularly in regard to the ongoing problems associated with cashback which have left many customers facing legal action, as long overdue; agrees with the IMPDA that the consumer has been ill served by the failure of the network providers adequately to police the cashback incentive scheme; believes the network providers to be complicit in the active promotion of an unsustainable business model in relation to cashback to achieve connection numbers and highly profitable volume targets; further believes the voluntary arrangement agreed between Ofcom and the network providers has comprehensively been demonstrated to be inadequate; and supports the IMPDA in its call to Ofcom, following its current review, to introduce statutory regulation not only to protect the consumer but also to eliminate uncompetitive practices within the industry.