Glasgow company fined for making half a million nuisance calls

The calls were about non-existent Green Deal energy saving schemes including boiler and window replacement, home improvement grants and loft insulation. 

These were made to phone numbers that had registered with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) where people had not given their permission to receive such calls. 

The calls, made between August 2019 and March 2020, accumulated over 500 complaints to the ICO and the TPS. The complaints suggested that DDSL had used false trading names, and an investigation discovered that the company also disguised the telephone numbers they were calling from - which is also illegal. 

The ICO has fined the company £150,000.

Ken Macdonald, Head of ICO Regions, said:

”Dial A Deal were breaking the law on a number of fronts, not only were they making calls to people without their permission, they were also hiding their identity using false names and spoof numbers.
“Calls about Green Deal schemes can be a real problem as people often believe they are legitimate but, thanks to the complaints made by the public, we’ve been able to take action.
“Companies making similar nuisance calls should take note, we use our powers where we see serious breaches of the law.”

The company has also been issued an Enforcement Notice ordering them to stop making unsolicited marketing calls, and has blocked its attempt to be struck off the Companies House register to try and avoid paying any fine.