12 July 2006
UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has said that it is to launch a fresh crackdown on silent calls made to people's homes.
It says that it will make strenuous efforts to trace companies violating new rules on silent calling, according to Brand Republic.
Silent calls are often the result of telemarketing machines that dial up numerous numbers.
In order to combat the practice, Ofcom introduced rules capping the amount of abandoned calls that could be made by companies and also introduced a requirement to make companies include a recorded message and identification with telemarketing calls.
Complaints received by the regulator have prompted it into the renewed action, raising suspicions that some companies may not be adhering to the latest regulations.
Findings produced by any investigations into offending companies will be published in its Competition Bulletin.
The maximum penalty that Ofcom is allowed to impose on companies guilty of falling foul of the rules was recently increased from £5,000 to £50,000.
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