Hue and cry over silent calls

03 August 2015 - 10:00 By KAUNDA SELISHO and BENJAMIN PLUTSICK

We all get them and we all hate them. Silent calls from unknown landlines. If you phone back, the call is automatically rejected. Adding to the frustration is that, unlike elsewhere, South Africa has no legislation regulating the companies behind these calls.The UK website thisismoney.co.uk reports that "silent calls" are not allowed to exceed 3% of total calls to customers in 24 hours "on the grounds of the nuisance or potential alarm it can cause".Independent Communications Authority of SA spokesman Paseka Maleka there was no legislation regulating silent calls. He said he suspected that consumers did not read the terms and conditions when opening credit accounts and unknowingly allowed their personal details to be shared with third parties for marketing purposes.A Google search of any one of these annoying numbers links you to the forums which reveal huge spikes in complaints, especially from South Africans, over the past two months.Posts on complaints forums such as whocallsme.com and shouldianswer.net, suggest that some of mystery numbers are those of debt collection companies.Your telephone number is added to an auto-call list to make it seem as though the company tried to contact you should you ever end up in court for non-payment.This also allows the agencies to bill their clients a certain amount for every call placed.The recurring South African numbers are 011-084-4027 and 011-084-4972.A court order is necessary to get the callers identified...

There’s never been a more important time to support independent media.

From World War 1 to present-day cosmopolitan South Africa and beyond, the Sunday Times has been a pillar in covering the stories that matter to you.

For just R80 you can become a premium member (digital access) and support a publication that has played an important political and social role in South Africa for over a century of Sundays. You can cancel anytime.

Already subscribed? Sign in below.



Questions or problems? Email helpdesk@timeslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00.