New fines rolled out as government targets company bosses in cold call crackdown
Bosses of companies that make nuisance calls face personal fines of up to £500,000 as part of a new government crackdown.
New laws allow the UK’s data protection watchdog, the Information Commissioner's Office (OCI), to directly target bosses responsible for the cold calls.
It is hoped the measures will stop directors filing for bankruptcy in a bid to avoid large fines.
Digital minister Margot James said: “There is now no hiding place for the small minority of rogue directors who have previously tried to escape justice.
“We are determined to stamp this menace out and this new law is the latest in a series of measures to rid society of the plague of nuisance calls.”
Billions of unsolicited calls have been made in the last year, according to consumer group Which. Research by Which revealed nearly three-quarters of people in the UK receive at least one nuisance call a month.
Andy Curry, who leads the nuisance call enforcement team at the ICO, said: “We welcome this amendment to the law which will increase the tools we have to protect the public.
“It will mean we can recover the fine more easily and also make it much harder for unscrupulous operators to set up in business again.”