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Silent calls may cost offenders £2m

Friday 23 October, 2009

By Becca Talbot - becca@consumerchoices.co.uk

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Companies which distress and annoy consumers with silent calls could face fines of up to £2million under new proposals.

The current maximum penalty a firm could face for making silent or nuisance calls is £50,000, but new proposals made by Digital Britain minister Stephen Timms could hike this to £2million.

Consumers receive silent calls when call centres using automated calling systems (ACS) dial more numbers than there are staff available to handle the outgoing call.

Timms said: “Silent calls can cause a great deal of annoyance and distress - particularly to the elderly and vulnerable when their phone rings but no-one is on the end of the line.”

He added: “We want to send a clear message to those companies that are persistently abusing these automated calling systems that this will not be tolerated and there is a price to pay.”

Ministers are now seeking views on plans to raise the current maximum penalty for persistent misuse to either £250,000, £500,000, £1million or £2million. The response will be published in March 2010.

Research carried out by telecoms regulator Ofcom this year found that 49% of adults felt “very inconvenienced” by silent calls and 35% of over 65’s had received silent calls within the six months prior to June 2009.

Simon Piper, business development manager of Homephonechoices.co.uk advised customers who are worried about silent calls to register with the Telephone preference System (TPS). He said: “TPS is a free service that you can sign up to so you don’t receive unsolicited marketing phone calls. Register with TPS on 0845 070 0707.”