UK directors could be fined £500,000 for nuisance marketing
Company directors could be fined up to £500,000 if their firm is responsible for nuisance phone calls under new UK privacy and electronic communications regulations. From spring 2017, directors will become personally responsible for breaches of the law. Both directors and companies could face fines, meaning that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) could impose penalties of up to £1m in total. At present, only businesses are liable for such penalties. Many firms escape the fines by declaring bankruptcy and reopening under a new name. The ICO has fined companies almost £3.7m in total in relation to nuisance marketing.

Rogue company bosses could face fines of up to £500,000 if their firm is behind nuisance phone calls under a government move to clamp down on the problem.

Firms can already be fined if they are found to have breached the rules, but the people running them can try to dodge the penalty and set up a new company.

From spring 2017, a change in the law will mean directors will be held personally responsible and both they and their companies can be fined, facing combined penalties of up to £1m.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) will be able to impose the fines if firms and the people running them are found to be in breach of the privacy and electronic communications regulations.

The move has been welcomed by the information watchdog, while the consumer group Which? hailed the move as a “massive victory” following its campaign on the issue.

Under the current system, only businesses are liable for fines and many try to escape paying the penalty by declaring bankruptcy, only to open up again under a different name.

The digital and culture minister, Matt Hancock, said: “Nuisance callers are a blight on society, causing significant distress to elderly and vulnerable people.

“We have been clear that we will not stand for this continued harassment and this latest amendment to the law will strike another blow to those businesses and company bosses responsible.”

Elizabeth Denham, the information commissioner, said: “The people running nuisance call companies have little regard for the anxiety and upset they cause all in the name of turning a fast profit.

“We are inundated with complaints from people who are left shaken and distressed by the intrusion on their daily lives.

“We’re quick to fine the companies responsible but we’ve been speaking to the government about going further than that because we must do all we can to help protect people from these calls.

“Making directors responsible will stop them ducking away from fines by putting their company into liquidation. It will stop them leaving by the back door as the regulator comes through the front door.”

The ICO has issued fines totalling almost £3.7m to companies behind nuisance marketing. This year alone, the ICO has fined firms responsible for more than 70m calls and nearly 8m spam text messages.

Alex Neill, the Which? managing director of home and legal services, said: “This is a massive victory for the hundreds of thousands of people who supported our nuisance calls campaign.

“It’s good to see the government has listened to consumers and will be introducing new rules to hold company directors to account.

“This legislation will stop rogues dodging fines for bombarding consumers with nuisance calls and sidestepping the rules by closing one business and re-establishing a new one.”