Press release

Telephone Preference Service – the legislation starts to bite!

18-Jan-07
Last year, salesmen made an estimated 1.5 billion cold calls to UK consumers – most of them during the evening. And in the last two years, the number of calls being made has rocketed as companies use new technology and cheap labour in overseas call centres.

All marketers need to be aware of their obligations and rights under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR) governing marketing by means of telephone calls, faxes, emails and text messages.

Any individual (or organisation) in the UK can register, free of charge, with the TPS confirming that they do not wish to receive unsolicited telephone calls. Any organisation wishing to make direct telephone calls for sales or promotional purposes is duty bound to check, before making such calls, whether or not the subscriber has registered such preference – if they have it is an offence to call them.

The Information Commission’s office has ordered Staybrite Windows Ltd, Zenith Windows Ltd, Bowater Home Improvement Ltd and IDT Direct Limited trading as Toucan, to stop calling individuals who have already said that they do not wish to be contacted or have registered with the Telephone Preference Service to stop calls. IDT Direct has also been ordered to stop making automated calls unless it has prior consent.


If companies fail to stop making the calls, they can be taken to court for breach of enforcement notice and given unlimited fines. Failure to pay the fine could lead to a prison sentence.


For more information on data protection, freedom of information and other related issues, please call Tony Hatton on 01494 525941.