In focus: Reminder calls under threat from wider clampdown

The government is reportedly planning a clampdown on unsolicited phone calls from service providers across the board.

It has become a familiar tale. Phone numbers are sold on to third parties geared up to pester the caller about whether they have ever taken out PPI or been involved ‘in a road accident that wasn’t your fault’. Most UK adults have, at some point, been at the wrong end of such phone calls.

However, optical practices genuinely rely on outbound contact to ensure patients attend eye exams on a regular basis for the sake of their eye health. Services such as dentistry and motoring have an equally legitimate reason to ‘pester’ their customers, it has been argued by a campaign body called Call For Action On the TPS (CFAOTTPS), which has urged optometry to help lobby to prevent a ban on outbound calling.