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Retail Energy Sales Agent Enters $10 Million Settlement With Attorney General
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Teleperformance Colombia SAS ("TP Colombia"), TPUSA, Inc. ("TPUSA"), and Teleperformance SE ("TP Parent") (collectively, Teleperformance) have entered into a consent decree with the Illinois Attorney General under which Teleperformance agrees to pay a $10 million judgment to resolve alleged violations arising from advertisements on Google, and sales calls, related to retail energy
Among other things, the Illinois Attorney General alleged that Teleperformance created advertisements on google using terms such as "ComEd customer service" or "Ameren bill pay" which the AG alleged, "obfuscate[d] the source of the ads and ... trick[ed]
consumers into believing they were calling their public electric utility."
Calls made in response to such ads were, the AG alleged, connected to Teleperformance for purposes of marketing retail energy supply to the caller
The AG also alleged violations of the Illinois Telephone Solicitations Act in so far as Teleperformance failed to state the purpose of the call (e.g. a retail energy sales call), or the business being represented on the call, at the beginning of the call
The AG alleged that TP Colombia engaged in nearly
300,000 telephone solicitations in Illinois on behalf of retail suppliers
Under the consent decree, Teleperformance agrees to not market in Illinois through July 31, 2026
Teleperformance also agrees that, to the extent it resumes marketing in Illinois, it shall put in place training, record keeping, and auditing practices enumerated in the consent decree
Additionally, for two years after any resumption of marketing in Illinois, Teleperformance agrees to be monitored by an independent third-party for compliance, who shall report to the AG, with Teleperformance agreeing to pay $250,000 for the costs of such
The consent decree provides, "TP Parent, TPUSA and TP Colombia deny each of the State's allegations in the
Complaint and deny any wrongdoing or violation of law. TP Parent further denies that it is liable
for the conduct of TP Colombia and TPUSA."
In a news release, the AG's office alleged, "Teleperformance conducted the calls on behalf of three ARES [retail suppliers]: Rushmore Energy LLC; Palmco Power IL LLC, d/b/a Indra Energy; and Mega Energy of Illinois LLC."
The news release and the consent decree did not allege any violations tied to specific calls on behalf of, or committed by, any of the suppliers named above
Case No. 2024 CH 08323, Cook County, IL Circuit Court
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September 23, 2024
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Copyright 2024 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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