TPS drops company name requirement from complaints

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) has dropped the need for a named company to be included when consumers make complaints about nuisance or rogue marketing calls

Previously, the TPS required three things: time of call; the phone number that called; the company that called. They now just need the first two of these.

Many rogue marketers choose not to disclose who they are calling from, and this had prevented consumers making complaints.

Now the company name has been dropped from the complaints procedure, it will therefore be easier to complain about rogue callers.

Head of the TPS John Mitchison said, “It is now be possible to complain about rogue and nuisance callers more easily as the requirement for the company’s name has been dropped. This will make it easier for consumers to complain about rogue marketers.

“The TPS is free to sign up to and enables consumers to opt-out of receiving unwanted sales and marketing calls on their mobile and landline phones. It is a legal requirement for companies to screen calls against the TPS register and they are not allowed to call those people listed, unless they have given their prior consent. We will help the Information Commissioner’s Office build prosecutions against all companies that fail to follow this simple legal requirement,” he said.

Rachel Aldighieri, managing director of the DMA said, “This is fantastic news. Rogue and nuisance callers are a menace and a waste of time. Worse, they give the legitimate industry a bad name. We applaud any move to help stamp out rogue callers," she said.

Contact:
Ed Owen, PR and Content manager
T: +44 (0) 207 291 3324 |M: +44 (0)7813 664656 |E: ed.owen@dma.org.uk

About the DMA:
The DMA is a UK trade association for the one-to-one marketing industry - those companies that speak directly to their customers and those companies that help them achieve this. The DMA provides best-practice guidelines and legal services for its members, who are typically marketing, advertising and data-driven organisations.

More than 1,000 companies in the UK are DMA members. The DMA also holds industry events, conducts research and publishes reports, lobbies for legislation to support its members’ business practices and has a close working relationship with the Information Commissioner’s Office. All DMA members must comply with the DMA code, which is available to read here: http://dma.org.uk/the-dma-code.