Ofcom sets out new rules to tackle repeat silent calls
Ofcom has today set out proposed new rules to prevent consumers being harassed by repeated silent calls.
Seventy per cent of the complaints Ofcom receives about silent calls are from consumers receiving two or more silent calls a day from the same company, often over a period of days or weeks.
The vast majority of these calls are caused by automated calling systems used by call centres to contact large numbers of people in one go.
These systems can be beneficial to both companies and consumers, for example when a bank needs to quickly alert thousands of customers about a potential fraud.
But sometimes technology used by call centres to detect answer machines will mistake a live consumer for an answering machine and cut off the call without the person hearing anything, resulting in a silent call.
Measures to prevent repeat silent calls
Ofcom is proposing a new rule to prevent a company calling an answer phone more than once in any 24 hour period, unless a call centre agent is on hand to answer the call.
Stamping out silent and abandoned calls
Since the introduction of rules to stamp out silent and abandoned calls, there has been a reduction in complaints to Ofcom’s advisory team (1300 in October 2008 to 825 in March 2010), and to BT’s nuisance calls bureau (5000 in October 2008 to under 1000 in March 2010).
This reduction has been in part due to Ofcom’s enforcement work to tackle companies making silent and abandoned calls.
Ofcom has fined nine companies for making silent and abandoned calls and fined one company the maximum £50,000.
Ofcom will continue with its programme of enforcement and will take action against companies found to be in breach of the rules.
This would mean that consumers currently worst affected would no longer receive repeat silent calls over the course of a day.
Subject to consultation, the new rules would come into force in early next year.
Ofcom will continue to monitor complaints about silent calls and would expect to see an overall reduction in the number of complaints made to Ofcom and to communications providers’ nuisance call bureaux following the change.
Clarification of existing regulations
Ofcom is also consulting on clarifying the existing rules for industry including:
- our approach to limiting the number of abandoned calls automated calling systems users can make;
- guidance on when an information message should be played in the event of an abandoned call and what information it may or may not contain.
Ofcom Chief Executive, Ed Richards said: ‘Silent and abandoned calls can be very irritating and even frightening for some people.
By tackling repeat silent calls, backed by firm enforcement action, Ofcom expects to see a sharp reduction in consumer harm.’
Click here for the consultation which closes on 27 July 2010.
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