MEPs warn on dangers of India outsourcing

Growing fears about the security risk posed by outsourcing call centre jobs to India will today prompt a group of MEPs to call for legislation to protect British consumers from potential fraud.

They want the European Commission to tighten up the Data Protection Act to prevent overseas gangs tapping into UK and US credit card details. The Amicus group of Labour MEPs intends to table plans at this afternoon's Employment and Social Affairs committee that call for Euro-wide legislation.

The move follows reports that Capital One, the US credit card group, scrapped a contract with one of India's biggest call centre operators, Wipro Spectramind, after alleged breaches of credit control.

David Fleming, Amicus's national finance secretary, said: "Off-sourcing is an accident waiting to happen. It is only a matter of time before a serious crime is committed that ruins the reputation of the British financial services industry."