Thousands of calls to the new non-emergency police number have been abandoned in the four months since its launch, according to the Conservatives.
On more than 15,000 occasions, people hung up or were cut off before their 101 call was answered, the party says, after receiving data from a freedom of information request.
Deserted calls account for around 5% of the 288,812 calls made since the Police Scotland hotline opened in February. This compares with a 4% rate reported for England and Wales where 101 has been running since January last year.
The number was introduced to take the strain off the 999 emergency call service and make it easier for people to report less urgent crimes or speak to a local officer.
Emergency calls in Scotland fell by an average of 1,358 a month compared with the four months before the 101 line went live, the Tories said.
John Lamont, Conservative chief whip, said: “One of the main aims of the new 101 number was to reduce pressure on 999, but calls to the main emergency number have barely fallen. These figures also show that too many callers are not getting through, which might make them less likely to use the non-emergency number in the future.
“With almost 6,000 calls going unanswered in May alone, clearly the system is suffering from more than teething problems.
“With Police Scotland struggling to adapt to the upheaval of the SNP’s single police force, the Scottish Government must make sure more is done to ensure the public’s concerns are answered quickly and efficiently.”