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Zero tolerance; cold-callers to face fines of £500,000

Kit Klarenberg
Written By:
Kit Klarenberg
Posted:
Updated:
26/02/2015

Companies that bombard consumers with unsolicited sales and marketing communications will now face fines of up to £500,000, it was announced today.

Ministers are due to release full details of the new regulations later this week, which make it easier for the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) to impose financial penalties on companies that barrage consumers with unwanted calls and texts.

From now on, the ICO won’t need to demonstrate that such communications are inflicting “substantial damage or distress” on consumers before taking action against perpetrators. The ICO will have the power to penalise any firm they believe to cause “nuisance, annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety” with their sales and marketing activities.

Last year, there were over 175,000 complaints made to the ICO about unsought promotional correspondence; in November, Ofcom acknowledged that the telephone preference service fails to prevent around two-thirds of unsolicited calls and messages, as duplicitous firms either ignored or found ways to circumvent restrictions.

Consumer group Which? has long lobbied for changes in the law to both deter wrongdoers, and make it easier for the ICO to take action against offending businesses. In December, the group endorsed harsh measures for cracking down on unwelcome sales and marketing calls, including holding senior executives to account for such activity.

Culture minister Ed Vaizey responded positively to the proposals, noting that the group’s research indicated that six in 10 consumers no longer wanted to answer their phone to unrecognised numbers, four in five frequently received cold-calls at home, and a third overall felt intimidated by the calls.

“We welcome the government making good on its promise to change the law so it’s easier to prosecute nuisance callers,” said Richard Lloyd, chair of Which?’s nuisance calls taskforce. “These calls are an everyday menace blighting the lives of millions. We want the regulator to send a clear message by using their new powers to full effect without delay.”

“It’s also good news that the government is looking into how senior executives can be held to account if their company makes nuisance calls.”


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