New bill proposed to help with nuisance calls
Article added: 06/11/2013
Mr Alun Cairns, MP for The Vale of Glamorgan, has tabled a backbencher’s 10-minute rule bill in the House of Commons on the issue of Nuisance Calls.
The proposed new law would force companies to reveal their phone number to householders. This would enable people to complain effectively about cold-calling companies if they wanted to.
The bill would require the full support of the coalition government to have any chance of being given enough parliamentary time to become law.
Alun Cairns MP
Mr Edward Vaizey MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries said that he was hoping to publish a strategy to get to grips with the problem by the end of the November 2013.
Mr Cairns said “It’s almost impossible to complain about a nuisance call without knowing the telephone number of the caller. This Bill will make it easier to complain and will empower constituents to choose whether they want to answer the phone or not.”
“When caller ID was first introduced all numbers were displayed. Now, most organisations withhold it - including Parliament,” said Mr Cairns.
Mr Cairns went on to say that there could be exceptions such as those organisations whose remit required anonymity such as charities like Women’s Aid.
The current system known as the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) allows consumers and businesses to register their landline and mobile telephone numbers to prevent unwanted sales and marketing calls and is currently being reassessed.
Mr Cairns added that the objective of his bill was to “provide more evidence to the regulators to fine those companies that are breaching the Telephone Preference Service code”.