Eastleigh MP, Mims Davies, has welcomed greater penalties for rogue company directors responsible for nuisance calls.
“I’d delighted that the Government is consulting on proposals to make rogue company directors personally responsible for the nuisance telephone calls that they inflict on the general public.
“Already this Government has forced them to display their caller IDs, increased fines for lawbreakers, and seen the number of nuisance call complaints fall for the second year in a row, so I am pleased that we are looking at going further to catch up with company directors who dissolve their companies to escape fines and open up an identical enterprise days later doing the same thing.
“I know many Eastleigh constituents will share with me the experience of sitting down to a family meal, only to be bombarded with interrupting nuisance calls. I hope that if these proposals are taken forward by the Government, it will put an end such situations.”
The Information Commissioner’s Office already has powers to fine companies up to £500,000 if they break the law and breach Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. These measures however have not prevented a minority of unscrupulous directors from winding up their companies to avoid incurring fines and opening up new ones. These new proposals would make the directors personally liable for the breach rather than their companies.