Bluon Energy Fine: What TPS Can Do About Sales Calls

In an announcement on 4 November, the Information Commissioner's Office said London-based Bluon Energy Ltd had been fined £105,000 for unsolicited direct marketing calls. Calls offering free solar-panel surveys generated 61 complaints to the ICO and the Telephone Preference Service during the April 2024–April 2025 period. The regulator says the company has paid the penalty.

The ICO found that Bluon bought leads from third-party data suppliers without checking whether people had consented to calls. It used trading names including Greentech Solar, Green Line Solar and Solar Diagnostics Checks. These names may help readers recognise a past call, but the finding is unlawful marketing—not proof that every solar offer is a financial scam.

According to the ICO, live marketing calls to TPS-registered numbers are unlawful unless the person has told that specific organisation they do not object to receiving its calls. A business buying your number does not, by itself, establish that permission.

One complainant was wrongly told their TPS registration did not count. You do not need to debate the rules with a salesperson. Registration records a preference businesses must respect; it is not a network filter, so a company ignoring the rules can still get through. Receiving another call does not mean registering was pointless.

Use the Telephone Preference Service link in Sources and further reading below to register your UK landline or mobile free of charge. Allow 28 days for registration to take effect. Do not pay someone who says a fee is needed for this registration.

If an unwanted marketing call arrives, note its date and time, the displayed number if there is one, the company or trading name given, and what was offered. Record only what is readily available; do not prolong a pushy conversation or disclose more personal information to obtain details. End the call when you want to.

If nuisance calls continue after registration has taken effect, use the ICO reporting link below. A brief, accurate account is more useful than guessing who was behind an unknown number. The Bluon case illustrates how complaints can support enforcement; reporting does not promise an immediate end to calls or a personal payout.

For someone expecting calls from a care home, hospital or vulnerable relative, ignoring every unfamiliar number may be impractical. Agree a manageable plan with the person you support: keep known care-provider contacts handy and verify a worrying request through an independently obtained number. If considering call screening, check how essential callers will get through before enabling it.

Our related explainers cover separate problems: impersonation callers and scam texts. Their verification and reporting advice is useful background, but neither is evidence that Bluon's calls were those kinds of fraud.

A consumer VPN protects internet traffic between your device and its server. It cannot block ordinary telephone marketing calls, retract leads already sold or make a caller respect TPS registration. The relevant steps here are registering, limiting what you share and reporting unwanted marketing—not buying a VPN subscription.