Rogue call war ‘back on track’

Rogue call war 'back on track'The Information Commissioner’s Office has claimed its war against nuisance calls is back on track after slapping yet another marketing firm with a £70,000 fine – following an enforcement notice – bringing the total monetary penalties issued this year to £500,000.
The firm – EMC Advisory Services – used two third-party companies to make calls on its behalf to identify Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) claims. However, it failed to ensure that people registered with the Telephone Preference Service, or those who had previously asked not to be contacted, were not being called.
EMC was responsible for 630 complaints to the ICO and the TPS between 1 March 2013 and 28 February 2014. The ICO warned the company last year that under the electronic marketing regulations they were responsible for ensuring third parties making calls on their behalf were not contacting people who had previously opted out of receiving marketing calls.
Despite the warning, the ICO and the TPS continued to receive complaints from people receiving nuisance calls from either EMC or the other companies acting on its behalf.
The regulator is increasingly issuing enforcement notices as a precursor to fines after claiming its clampdown on nuisance calls is being hampered by last year’s High Court appeal by the owners of Tetrus Telecoms against a £440,000 fine. The appeal judge threw out the fine after ruling that the ICO could not prove Tetrus had caused “substantial damage and distress”.
The ICO and the DMA have since called on the Government to rush through new legislation which would reduce the threshold to make it easier to fine businesses. Government sources initially claimed the new law would be passed by Christmas, although this now looks highly unlikely. The regulator does have the power to issue fines of up to £500,000 but the High Court ruling makes it virtually impossible to do so.
ICO head of enforcement Stephen Eckersley said: “With over half a million pounds in fines issued to companies making live nuisance calls, we know our penalties are sending a clear message to the industry that making nuisance calls is unacceptable.
“The public has had enough and are continuing to support our enforcement action by letting the TPS and our office know about the calls they are receiving. But there’s more that we could be doing. [New legilsation] will mean that we don’t have to wait until these calls have caused substantial damage and distress before we can issue a fine.”
UPDATE:  Ofcom has signalled its intent to punish even the most minor telemarketing offenders after it fined specialist insurer Ageas Retail for making just 148 silent calls over three days. The regulator has ordered Ageas to pay a £10,000 fine within the next 30 days. For its part, the company is sending a £10 shopping vouchers to affected consumers.

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1 Comment on "Rogue call war ‘back on track’"

  1. Nuisance call war ‘back on track’ as ICO issues new fine to marketing firm http://t.co/LkC5MA6xb5 #telemarketing #directmarketing #data

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