A call for change

This newspaper has campaigned long and hard on the subject of nuisance telephone calls. They are disruptive, exploitative and shockingly common. Earlier this year, a study found that British households are pestered by cold callers up to 60 times a month, and that these contacts account for almost half of all telephone calls to UK homes. The statistics are even higher for elderly people, as they and other vulnerable residents are often targeted by fraudsters posing as salesmen. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) receives more than 14,000 complaints about nuisance calls every month.

Part of the problem has been that three quarters of the companies found guilty of making nuisance calls simply fold, rather than pay the fine of up to £500,000. It is a cynical thing to try to do. One firm, Prodial Ltd, hit homes across Britain at a rate of 330,000 calls a day. Prodial was put into liquidation last November, reducing the chances of paying a fine, when it realised that the ICO was closing in on it. Remarkably, bosses are then entirely free to start up new companies doing the same variety of dreadful business.

Therefore it is highly welcome news that the Government intends to introduce rules ensuring that company directors could potentially be fined the same amount as their nuisance-calling firms – making them personally liable for their activities for the first time. This is a happy victory for the

Sunday Telegraph and for our readers. Anything that reduces this irritant can only be good, and hopefully this reform will dissuade unscrupulous people from badgering and exploiting others.