Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale MP David Mundell has voiced concerns that more than 15,000 calls to the new 101 non-emergency police number have gone unanswered in its first four months.
The calls classified as “abandoned” result in the caller either hanging up or being cut off before being connected.
In May 2013 alone nearly 6,000 calls went unanswered.
This figure represents five per cent of all calls made to the service from its launch in February to the end of May 2013 - a higher failure rate than in England and Wales where the 101 number has been running since January 2012.
The figures show the number of 101 calls received since the system launched in February was 288,812.
Meanwhile, calls to 999 fell by an average of only 1,358 per month compared with the previous four months before the 101 hotline went live.
This is despite one of the justifications that the new non-emergency number would relieve pressure on the 999 number.
Earlier this year Mr Mundell lent his support to the introduction of the new number, visiting a local police call centre, meeting staff and learning how the new system would work.
The local MP said this week: “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.
“The Scottish Government was well aware the introduction of a non-emergency number risked confusion without proper publicity campaigns, but once again has failed to heed the warnings.
“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,” he added.