Fight Against Nuisance Calls: The ICO's Approach

The ICO has issued more than £2.4 million in fines since April 2022 against companies responsible for nuisance calls, texts and emails. These fines act as a deterrent to other organisations that may be breaching the law. The ICO successfully defended their £60,000 fine of Digital Growth Experts who sent thousands of nuisance marketing texts during the Covid pandemic. To recover fines, the ICO uses a robust yet fair approach, providing payment plans if the debtor is in genuine hardship and taking formal legal action against those with the means to pay. To ensure companies are unable to resurface under a different name and cause further harm, the ICO works with the Insolvency Service and so far, 36 directors have been disqualified from nuisance marketing as a result of their investigations. The ICO also works with other regulators to combat silent, abandoned and scam calls.