EVEN for those of a strong constitution, nuisance calls can be a major irritation. No one likes the ring of the telephone during their favourite television programme, only to find a voice aggressively trying to sell them something they don’t won’t to buy.
Lifting the phone to a recorded message or silence at the other end can also be thoroughly annoying, particularly when you didn’t give your permission to be called by anyone in the first place.
For the elderly and vulnerable, however, unsolicited calls can be far more serious and intrusive. Trading standards officers have long warned that older people risk falling while rushing to the phone, while others feel frightened by silent calls and some end up being scammed out of money.
The UK Government is responsible for the law in this area and has taken steps to crack down on the issue, including making it easier for regulators to sanction those breaching direct marketing rules and increasing fines for wrongdoers. The Scottish Government, meanwhile, set up a task force and has joined forces with consumer bodies to tell people how to avoid and report nuisance companies.
But too many still flout the rules, often using legal loopholes to set up under a different name when caught out, and skipping fines in the process.
As privacy and data becomes ever more important to the way we all manage our lives it is becoming increasingly clear that even more radical measures will be required to tackle the scourge of cold calling and texting once and for all.
And the recent experiences of Scots only highlights the need for more action. Research by consumer champions Which? found that almost three quarters of us received an unsolicited marketing or sales call in the last month, with 80 per cent agreeing that cold calls discouraged them from picking up the phone to unknown numbers. Nine out of 10 people agreed that cold calls were an intrusive interruption to their daily life.
Meanwhile, almost half of those surveyed said they were intimidated by such calls and 42 per cent of respondents felt distressed.
The findings here suggest that despite strong words from ministers, little has changed for the better, with nuisance communications still bringing daily torment for far too many.
And that’s why the UK Government must take the decisive action demanded by Which? and change the law so that company directors take personal responsibility for unsolicited calls.
Those at the helm of companies that instruct their staff to illegally disrupt people’s lives deserve to be hit hard in the pocket. Ministers must now make it happen.
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