The UK Government has announced it will legislate to crackdown on nuisance calls.
After pressure from Labour and the Lib Dems in the House of Lords, the Government agreed to introduce measures forcing marketing firms to reveal their phone number when they call.
That means people can refuse to answer calls if they don’t recognise the number.
However, the new measures will not go as far as making telecoms companies provide free technology that would show up the phone number of incoming callers.
Some firms will still charge for so-called ‘caller line identification’.
Business minister Baroness Neville-Rolfe said: “The Government take the issue of nuisance calls very seriously.”
Lib Dem MP Mike Crockart chairs the all-party group on nuisance calls and has led the campaign against them in the Commons.
He said: “There is still work to be done to determine what qualifies as a marketing call and to make sure companies use valid phone numbers. But if you can report numbers it’s easier to tackle the people behind them.
“This is a victory and a welcome step in the right direction.”
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