Greater urgency is needed in the implementation of the cold calling ban, the industry has warned.

Commenting on the government’s pensions cold calling ban, which was confirmed yesterday 20 August, former Pensions Ministers and industry commentators have argued that while the announcement is welcomed, its delivery should be treated as a matter of urgency.

AJ Bell senior analyst Tom Selby said: “The measures announced by the government should put a severe dent in the business models used by these fraudsters, giving savers more confidence their valuable pensions will be safe from criminals. However, it is concerning there remains no set date for implementation and we urge policymakers to fast-track these vital protections through parliament as a matter of urgency.”

Royal London director of policy and former Pensions Minister Steve Webb shared this view: “It is vital that this ban is implemented as a matter of urgency. We cannot afford to wait months or even years before it is illegal to phone someone up out of the blue in this way.”

While the Department for Work and Pensions’ consultation noted that the legislation will be introduced “when parliamentary time allows”, the Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association policy lead engagement, EU and regulation James Walsh stated that the government needs to “protect savers from pension scams sooner rather than later.

“We need a clear timetable from government on when it will implement key elements of its proposals. We need more urgency," he advised.

However, it has been agreed that the ban is a positive step in ensuring the public are aware of the illegitimacy of pension cold calls.

Old Mutual Wealth head of retirement policy Jon Greer said: “The main benefit of this ban is really to raise public awareness and make sure they are suspicious of any cold calling activity.”

Selby added: “The fact emails and text messages will also be covered by the ban means savers can be absolutely certain that if someone they don’t know contacts them out of the blue about their pension, they simply should not engage with them. That means don’t email, don’t text back and hang up the phone.”

Hargreaves Lansdown senior pension analyst Nathan Long said that the ban “sends a loud and clear message to be on your guard if you are contacted out of the blue. The golden rule with pension planning is if something appears too good to be true, it almost certainly is.”

Former Pensions Minister Ros Altmann agreed that: “A ban would send a strong signal to the public that if someone contacts them out of the blue to discuss their pension, they should 'Just Hang Up'.”

The industry has also praised the government’s decision to make it harder for fraudulent schemes to be set up and allow pension providers and trustees to prevent suspicious transfers.

“It is right that the government has also taken steps to close loopholes that have enabled unscrupulous individuals to set up pension schemes, and have given trustees greater power to block transfers if they have concerns,” Greer said.

Webb commented: “The tightening up of who can register a pension scheme is long overdue. The deregulation of pension scheme registration allowed all sorts of questionable people to register pension schemes and describe them as officially ‘approved’."

He also described the tightening of the rules on pension transfers as "a step in the right direction".

As noted by Webb, however, the ban is not the final step to completely preventing fraudulent activity.

Selby surmised: “This must be seen as the start as the fightback against scammers rather than the end, however. Policymakers should monitor the effectiveness of these measures closely and consider further changes if savers continue to be pick-pocketed by fraudsters.

“It’s also important to note that this will not stop cold-calling or pension scams. Fraudsters will seek to exploit any loopholes in the rules, and many of the outfits involved will simply move their call centres abroad to avoid the ban.”

Altmann concluded: “We will never stop such fraudsters completely, but these measures will certainly protect the public better - about time too.”

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