§ 46. Mr. Nicholas Bakerasked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry whether he will use his powers under clause 3(2)(a) of the Telecommunications Bill when enacted, to require British Telecom to accept liability for non-inclusion of consumers in telephone directories.
§ Mr. ButcherNo. Clause 3 of the Telecommunications Bill would not be appropriate. The Bill repeals British Telecom's powers to provide services under the schemes that exist at present and the effect of this is to require it to enter into contracts with its customers for all the services it provides, including telephone directories. When the Bill becomes law any person whose name was omitted from the telephone directory would be able to take action under the terms of the contract. In common with normal commercial practice BT will be able to limit its liability in the contract but such limitations will be subject to the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977.