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Crackdown plans for nuisance marketing phone calls Nuisance calls: Crackdown planned
(about 3 hours later)
Telemarketing companies that hound members of the public with unwanted calls could become easier to penalise under new government plans. The government is planning to make it easier to fine firms that hound members of the public with nuisance calls.
Culture Secretary Maria Miller wants to allow the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to take action against offending companies more easily. Currently, they can be punished only if unsolicited calls cause "substantial damage" to householders.
And the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) will consult on imposing heftier fines. Ministers will also consult on imposing heftier fines. Some consumer groups say the measures do not go far enough.
The ICO received 120,310 complaints about "unsolicited marketing calls" between April and November last year. The Information Commissioner's Office received 120,310 complaints about "unsolicited marketing calls" from April-November 2013.
'Unwanted' Overseas call
Currently firms can only be punished if "substantial damage" is caused to householders by nuisance calls, but Ms Miller's plans will consider if this threshold can be lowered. It is illegal for companies to call domestic numbers registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS).
"Nuisance calls must stop. At best they are an irritation and an unwanted intrusion, at worst they cause real distress and fear, particularly to the elderly or housebound," she said. The rules do not apply when people consent to their details being used for marketing purposes.
"People need to feel safe and secure in their homes. The rules are clear - people have the right to choose not to receive unsolicited marketing calls. We will work to ensure their choice is respected." But consumers' association Which? says it has received many complaints about people being cold-called at home by many different companies, despite being signed up to the TPS.
The MoJ will launch a consultation tomorrow on whether firms that break the rules should face fines of up to 20% of their annual turnover. Repeat offenders include firms inquiring about mis-sold payment protection insurance.
Under the new rules, claims management companies (CMCs) could also face punishment if they buy leads generated by other firms who bombard customers with unwanted cold calls. Many calls are made from overseas.
CMCs advertise widely on TV, newspapers and the internet, encouraging people to sue for personal injury compensation, and for other losses. Under Culture Secretary Maria Miller's plans, the current "substantial damage" threshold could be lowered.
And the Ministry of Justice will launch a consultation on Monday on whether firms that break the rules should face fines of up to 20% of their annual turnover.
'Unwanted intrusion'
"Nuisance calls must stop," Ms Miller said.
"At best they are an irritation and an unwanted intrusion; at worst they cause real distress and fear, particularly to the elderly or housebound.
"People need to feel safe and secure in their homes.
"The rules are clear - people have the right to choose not to receive unsolicited marketing calls. We will work to ensure their choice is respected."
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd welcomed the plans saying he hoped regulators would now be given "the tools to get rid of the unwanted calls that millions of us are getting bombarded with".
"But we've got to be honest about this - some of this is firms that are operating overseas," he told BBC Radio 5 live.
"The companies in Britain that benefit from those calls have to be held to account for that.
"But it's not going to be possible to turn this off overnight."
'Long battle'
Mr Lloyd, who said a thousand complaints a week were made to Which? about nuisance callers, urged more people to register their phone number with the Telephone Preference Service.
"But it's going to be a long battle to keep these rogue companies - that really don't care about the rules - to get them under control and stop these nuisance calls and texts."
Mike Lordan, chief executive of the Direct Marketing Association, which represents the UK telemarketing industry, said it was unacceptable for people to receive unsolicited phone calls at home if they were registered on the TPS and hadn't given their consent for someone to call them.
He told 5 live the regulations on calls generally covered those made from overseas.
"It affects companies that operate in the UK and, if they use overseas call centres to make calls, the law still applies to them.
"And most of these calls that are being made - these rogue calls - are being made on behalf of companies that are registered in the UK."
He said he regretted "some of the image" associated with his industry but added: "I'd like to stress that it's not our business.
"Our code of practice is very strict."
He said the industry employed a million people, "many of those in areas of fairly high unemployment and we want to drive these rogue companies out of this particular field of business".
'Tough action'
Under the new rules, claims management companies (CMCs) could also face punishment if they buy leads generated by other firms which bombard customers with unwanted cold calls.
CMCs advertise widely on TV, in newspapers and on the internet, encouraging people to sue for personal injury compensation and for other losses.
Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "The Claims Management Regulator already takes tough action against companies which break the rules, suspending and closing down rogue firms, but now these fines will give us an extra weapon to drive bad behaviour out of the industry."Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: "The Claims Management Regulator already takes tough action against companies which break the rules, suspending and closing down rogue firms, but now these fines will give us an extra weapon to drive bad behaviour out of the industry."
The Fair Telecoms Campaign group welcomed the announcement, but said it did not go far enough in dealing with the distress caused by constant nuisance calls.The Fair Telecoms Campaign group welcomed the announcement, but said it did not go far enough in dealing with the distress caused by constant nuisance calls.
In April 2013, telecoms operator TalkTalk was fined £750,000 by regulator Ofcom for making an excessive number of abandoned and silent calls during a telemarketing campaign to attract new subscribers.
TalkTalk said it had terminated its relationship with two call centres used when the problem was discovered.