Culture, Media and Sport CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by John Thompson [NTC 046]

NUISANCE CALLS—CHARGES FOR AN “ANONYMOUS CALL REJECTION SERVICE”

In my experience most nuisance calls are almost always anonymous. I know this because in an effort to report then I have tried to get their numbers.

Installing an “anonymous call rejection service” would almost certainly cut down a large proportion of nuisance calls, and the UK based ones that did get through would be identifiable for reporting. Clearly this is not an option open to everyone; some people have genuine callers who for some reason want to be anonymous.

I cannot understand why switching to “anonymous call rejection service” should involve any significant costs yet BT charge £54 pa. It would be useful to ask BT what exactly is the cost rejecting anonymous calls—if it is not close to zero then there must be something wrong with their systems—and how they can justify the charge.

September 2013