Photo/Illutration The Kagoshima office of Relia Inc., which falsified audio recordings in a telemarketing campaign for TEPCO Energy Partner Inc. (The Asahi Shmbun)

A telemarketing company falsified audio recordings to conceal lies and prepare for complaints about bogus contract signings during a campaign to bring customers back to Tokyo Electric Power Co., The Asahi Shimbun has learned.

Relia Inc., a Tokyo-based telemarketing company, was commissioned for the campaign by TEPCO Energy Partner Inc., an electricity and gas retailing subsidiary wholly owned by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc.

The falsifications of the recorded phone conversations between Relia telemarketers and potential customers took place at the company’s call center in Kagoshima.

The Asahi Shimbun obtained audio data in 71 telemarketing cases that Relia submitted to TEPCO Energy Partner between March and December 2019. An analysis found tampering in the recordings in 44 cases.

In 33 of the cases, audio segments revealing questionable sales methods or even outright falsehoods by the telemarketers were deleted.

Relia employees in 10 cases pretended to be the prospective customers. That way, the recordings could support the company’s claims that the real customers had agreed to conclude contracts for TEPCO’s services, even if they had not.

In one case, Relia employees replaced portions of the original talks with fake dialogue.

TEPCO Energy Partner, which has terminated its contract with Relia, confirmed that the recordings in the 44 cases involved individuals who have switched from TEPCO to other energy suppliers.

TEPCO has been struggling to win back customers after coming under heavy criticism over the 2011 disaster at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Many people dumped TEPCO and signed contracts with its main rival, Tokyo Gas Co., or other new entrants in the electricity market, which was liberalized in April 2016.

In one original recording, a former TEPCO customer told the Relia telemarketer, “I cannot enter a contract over the phone.”

The telemarketer replied, “Of course.”

But that exchange was deleted in the edited version to suggest that the individual had agreed to enter the contract.

One telemarketer slammed Tokyo Gas, claiming the company provided no benefits. Another telemarketer pitched a TEPCO service that did not exist.

Those parts were omitted from the versions sent to TEPCO Energy Partner.

A person familiar with the shenanigans at Relia said the audio recordings were doctored to hide parts that could prove “inconvenient” for the company if the customers complained.

“Some people filed grievances with consumer centers and other places when they were astonished to find that contracts were completed over the phone despite their refusal or insistence on receiving paperwork first,” the insider said.

Completing contracts during telemarketing is permitted under the specified commercial transactions law.

However, the law also prohibits telemarketers from providing groundless information to entice potential but uninterested customers.

Relia, whose core business is call center operations, is listed on the prestigious First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

In response to an inquiry by The Asahi Shimbun, Relia admitted to the misdeeds in a statement and said a whistleblower had alerted the company to the problem in January.

“In reporting to TEPCO Energy Partner, we needed to disguise ourselves to look like we were operating the business appropriately,” the statement said.

The company conceded the possibility that four contracts were completed against the customers’ will.

“We take the matter extremely seriously,” the statement said.

Relia added that its contract with TEPCO Energy Partner was terminated after the subsidiary was informed of the wrongdoing.

“It is undeniable that there was inappropriate behavior, including giving misleading accounts and prioritizing winning contracts over gaining an understanding from customers,” TEPCO Energy Partner said. “We offer our deepest apologies to our customers.”

(This article was written by Ryota Kuki and Kazumichi Kubota.)