A new clampdown on unsolicited marketing by cold callers was unveiled today.
Culture minister Matt Hancock said the “blight on society” from nuisance calls to mobiles and home phones will in future meet a faster response. The Government will transfer ownership of the free Telephone Preference Service, which lets the public opt out of sales calls, from regulator Ofcom to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
It means the full list of numbers from which people have opted out will be directly in the hands of the enforcement teams who already hunt down rogue firms that ignore the rules. Ministers want such companies and their bosses to face up to £1 million in fines from next spring.
That will close a loophole which lets crooks declare themselves bankrupt and carry on under a new name.
“Nuisance callers are a blight on society, causing significant distress to elderly and vulnerable people,” said Mr Hancock. “We won’t stand for this continued harassment.”
The free TPS service lets anyone register a phone or fax number and give notice that they do not wish to receive direct marketing calls.
The ICO is the body that hands out fines to nuisance call crooks who breach the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. In future it will be able to control the TPS records and complaints-handling to ensure that prosecutions are faster and easier.
In another move, firms must display a caller ID to enable call blocking for vulnerable people.
More than 114,000 nuisance calls and texts were this year reported to the ICO by September 30.
