Greg Wright: Jail threat will make nuisance callers hang up

After you’d locked the door, there was no way anyone could invade your private space unless you decided to let them in.

The concept of privacy means nothing to unscrupulous companies who use nuisance calls in an attempt to bully you into buying products you don’t want or need.

Our grandparents could slam the door in the faces of travelling salesmen. We are not so lucky; once these dubious characters get hold of your phone number they will hound you until you cave in. They regard the elderly, sick and isolated as easy pickings.

The communications revolution means they can target millions of people via text message. These unwanted advances leave even the strongest person feeling violated.

It’s only by threatening to jail the directors behind these firms that we will have any hope of getting a grip on this problem.

Does this sound over the top?

A tad melodramatic?

Hardly.

Most people can tell stories of elderly relatives who have been left worried and mystified by calls from people they have never met, who want to sell them things they have never sought.

If these vulnerable people had been harassed in the street, the police would have been fingering the collar of the people responsible and, at the very least, issuing a caution.

Isn’t it much worse when the offence is committed in your 
own home, by people you 
cannot see and may not be able to trace?

Many of the mis-selling scandals of the last decade were created by cold-callers who would not take “no” for an answer. My concern is shared by Which?, the consumers’ organisation.

Which? wants to see directors held to account when their firm makes nuisance calls.

Around 80 per cent of British adults have had to deal with nuisance calls, according to 
the research.

Four out of 10 people on the receiving end of these calls said they had felt intimidated; a chilling statistic which shows why the regulators need to flex their muscles.

More than 83,000 nuisance calls have already been reported to the regulators using a free tool set up by Which?.

Director of campaigns and policy, Alex Neill, said: “Millions of people are still being pestered by nuisance calls and it’s time for tougher action that holds responsible company directors personally accountable for the unlawful actions of their companies.”

This sounds a smart move because it will stop rogues closing one business and 
setting up another, so they can avoid a fine.

The Government and regulators have already taken some action to tackle unwanted calls and texts, including the introduction of mandatory Caller Line Identification – so you should be able to trace the caller – and tougher fines from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

However, of the 22 fines 
issued against companies since April 2015, only four have been paid in full. Two have been part-paid.

The remaining fines have not been paid at all or the companies have simply gone into liquidation, according to Which?.

The regulators are making concerted efforts to track offenders down.

Earlier this year, the ICO was among the global regulators who signed a memorandum to share intelligence about unwanted calls and messages.

So far in 2016 the ICO has issued fines totalling £1.5m to companies behind nuisance marketing.

Those firms were responsible for more than 70 million calls and more than 500,000 spam text messages.

Although the authorities must be applauded for increasing their enforcement efforts, the focus should shift to catching the criminals behind these firms.

Companies can come and go with the stroke of a pen. The real villains are the directors behind them. The only thing that could deter them from committing further offences is the prospect of being thrown into jail.

Directors can be disqualified for misconduct, but, in my experience, it can be far too easy for a banned director to pull the strings from behind the scenes.

They may be hit with a large fine, and negative publicity, but these people really don’t care about reputational damage. The loss of their liberty would be a different matter.

There’s a fine line between pushy salesmanship and harassment, which is a criminal offence. The directors of companies who repeatedly overstep this line should 
find themselves in front of a criminal court.

Too many of the operators behind nuisance calls simply fold up their tents and steal off into the night.

A spell behind bars would give them time to reflect on the anguish they have caused.

Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post.