OTTAWA – The CRTC’s National Do Not Call List has levied $441,000 in penalties and registered an additional 1.2 million Canadian numbers in the past reporting year. As of March 31, 2012 the total number of registered numbers was almost 10.7 million. In the past year it also reached its first cross-border agreement that helped halt two Mexican-based companies telemarketers, and co-chaired the first International Do Not Call Network meeting. The report from the CRTC covers the period of April 1, 2011 to March 31, 2012.
The creation of the network brought together 13 telecommunications enforcement agencies from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, South Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The International Do Not Call Network’s goal is to facilitate cooperation between agencies that enforce telemarketing rules in their respective countries.
Despite the complexity of the National DNCL system, “no major unexpected costs have arisen” reports the CRTC. Under the Act, the costs associated with the development and operation of the List are covered by revenues from telemarketers’ subscriptions to the List.
Bell Canada’s costs associated with operating the List (which are recovered through subscription fees charged to telemarketers who purchase the List) were almost $3 million. The CRTC’s expenses for activities related to the National DNCL were approximately $2.9 million.
Monetary penalties or other payments from the CRTC imposed Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs) totalling $441,000 for violations of the rules. Since inception of the list, AMPs imposed and other payments received are in excess of $3.2 million.
The CRTC received 133,715 complaints during the reporting period, a 16% increase over the previous period, for a total of 564,924 complaints since the National DNCL was launched. A prima facie assessment by CRTC employees determined that 111,687 complaints during the reporting period, for a total of 431,697 complaints since the inception of the National DNCL, regarded potential violations of the Rules and warranted further investigation. The remaining approximately 16% of complaints for the reporting period were found to not relate to violations of the Rules for a variety of reasons. The Commission has concluded 205 investigations and since inception of the List, over 1,200 investigations have been concluded.
Telemarketer registrations to the National DNCL increased by 918, bringing the total number to 9,396 since the launch of the List. Telemarketers also purchased 2,094 subscriptions, which allow them to update their calling lists by “scrubbing,” or removing registered phone numbers.
At the end of March 2012, the CRTC concluded a five-month special investigation and took enforcement action against 85 companies for not registering with the National DNCL Operator and/or not subscribing to the National DNCL. Notices of Violation with AMPs were issued to 11 of those companies and citations were issued to 74 of those companies.
