Direct Marketing Commission - Enforcing Higher Industry Standards

Data & Marketing Commission | Enforcing Higher Industry Standards

DMC gives evidence at All Party Parliament Group Inquiry

16th October, 2013 at 09:06am

The DMC welcomed the opportunity to give evidence on 9th October at an inquiry to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Nuisance Calls.  This group was recently set up as a cross party group to increase awareness in Parliament of nuisance calls and other forms of unsolicited contact.  The group also aims to promote policies to strengthen the powers of a single regulator whilst also promoting the idea of a single, simple point of contact for individuals wishing to register to protect their privacy.

DMC argued that Government should remove barriers and create incentives for effective self-regulation. We pointed to the fast responsive nature of non-statutory consumer protection bodies like the DMC, ASA and PhonepayPlus. The point was not made as a criticism of statutory bodies like Ofcom and the ICO. These are strategic national regulators with a multitude of duties and powers and responsibilities that are hard-wired in the Acts that created them. They are not suited to managing high volumes of complaints and investigations that require formal and informal outcomes.chong qi gong men We argued that the TPS and DMC or an equivalent working together could achieve a dramatic reduction in complaints through early active interventions. We argued this would address complainant frustrations and end any business sense that non-compliance with rules and regulations is a consequence-free “norm”.