London, Oct. 31 (Reuters): Companies that pester British consumers with silent phone calls caused by call centres using automatic systems to dial telephone numbers could face fines of up to ?50,000, the government said today.

The silent calls are usually caused by there not being enough sales staff to speak to recipients, which means the person answering hears nothing.

“By increasing the maximum fines from ?5,000 to ?50,000, we are showing how determined we are to crack down on the distress nuisance calls cause the public, especially elderly and vulnerable people,” trade and industry secretary Alan Johnson said.

“Consumers deserve proper protection from companies making excessive silent calls.”

BT handles about 160,000 complaints every month about nuisance calls, while the Telephone Preference Service, which allows people to block sales calls, has over 10.5 million numbers registered.

Public consultation on the plans to increase the fines runs for the next three months.

The proposal is the latest in a line of government initiatives in fighting telephone abuse.