Conservative MSP Liz Smith has backed calls for stronger action to be taken against nuisance calls.
Recent research found that the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is failing to cut off nuisance calls.
People registered with TPS still received, on average, double the number of unsolicited calls made to householders who had not signed up.
While people who are registered with the TPS reported a decrease in nuisance calls after signing up, they received on average 10 unsolicited calls in the last month. This compares to five on average for those who have not signed up.
Around six in 10 (57%) people registered with the TPS are not satisfied with the service.
The scale of the nuisance calls problem is laid bare by the statistics.
Around eight in 10 (85%) people received an unsolicited call in the last month. Of these, one in 10 (8%) people received 50 unwanted calls or more in the last month.
The same topics cropped up repeatedly in the unwanted calls.
Six in 10 (62%) people received calls about Payment Protection Insurance and half (48%) were contacted by accident claim companies.
Liz Smith, who represents Mid Scotland and Fife, said: “I have met many people who complain about the frustration of unwanted sales calls and texts, which in some cases can cause significant distress and a sense of intrusion into their homes.
“While some calls will be legitimate and reasonable, the consumer needs to be given back control by having callers identify clearly who they are and what the nature of the call is.
“They also need to have a genuine option to opt out of future communications that they can be confident in.”
Ms Smith has suggested that complaints should be handled by the watchdog organisation Ofcom.
She added: “I strongly believe that all numbers should be displayed, unless the organisation has a good reason not to. This should be agreed with Ofcom.”In Friday’s Courier, readers tell of their frustration over the failure of the Telephone Preference Service to prevent nuisance calls.