Call centres face fines of £50,000 for 'silent' calls

Call centres that stalk the public with annoying "silent" calls face fines of up to £50,000 a time under rules unveiled yesterday.

Consumers, the elderly especially, have long complained about the anxiety caused when they answer the phone only to discover that no one is at the other end. Most "silent" calls are generated by automatic systems that dial hundreds of numbers at a time but do not have enough operators to cope.

Ofcom, the telecoms watchdog, estimates that of every 100 such calls, the first 20 who answer speak to a person in a call centre, the other 80 get silence.

Alan Johnson, the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, said: "Silent calls are annoying and distressing, particularly for the elderly, hard of hearing and people living on their own."

In addition to the fines, up from £5,000 previously, any abandoned calls must now be followed by a message explaining who was phoning. Consumers will then be offered a number to dial that will block more calls from that company. The fines are imposed on the company on whose behalf the calls are made.

According to one estimate, 10 million UK homes receive up to 20 silent calls every month.

BT gets more than one million complaints a year from customers who are nervous or merely irritated by the calls. The DTI and Ofcom say there is overwhelming support for the tougher penalties, which can be imposed for each offence.

The Labour MP Kevin Brennan took up the issue last year. His Bill to make silent calls an offence ran out of parliamentary time. He says the direct marketing industry is "legitimate", but that its "methods are unacceptable".

Separately, Ofcom yesterday took action against a small phone company for alleged mis-selling.

Just Telecomms, which trades as Lo-Rate Telecom, was investigated for misleading customers into believing it was part of BT and then demanding high cancellation fees. It has been told to refund customers.