OTTAWA-GATINEAU – SiriusXM Canada is among six Canadian companies that have paid a total of $1.23M as part of settlements over violations to Canada's telemarketing rules, the CRTC said Wednesday.
Further to an investigation, the CRTC’s chief compliance and enforcement officer found that SiriusXM Canada hired telemarketers to conduct calls on its behalf, and that the telemarketers in turn called Canadians who were registered on the company’s internal do not call list. The company has paid a $650,000 penalty.
Raid Inc. paid a $500,000 penalty after the marketer hired call centres to make calls on behalf of its clients, without ensuring that its clients were registered and subscribed to the national do not call list (DNCL).
The investigation also revealed that four call centres made calls on behalf of their clients to Canadians whose phone numbers are registered on the national DNCL, or their clients’ internal do not call lists. Some call centres failed to subscribe to the national DNCL, verify their clients’ subscriptions and registrations to the national DNCL, and made calls outside of the designated calling hours. The call centres are 9117-7683 Québec Inc. (operating as Centre d’appel J.L) which paid $40,000; Leads, Call Centers & Marketing Solutions Inc. which paid $30,000; 8472416 Canada Inc. (operating as Télémarketing TS) which paid $8,000; and 9165-2602 Québec Inc. (operating as Planification Marketing CF) which is on the hook for $5,000.
The CRTC said that the four call centres, Raid Inc. and SiriusXM Canada Inc. cooperated during the investigations and agreed to implement a compliance program to avoid any further violations in the future.
“Today’s announcement further demonstrates our commitment to reducing unwanted calls and to protecting the privacy of Canadians in their homes”, said CRTC chief compliance and enforcement officer Manon Bombardier, in a statement. “It also serves as a reminder that all telemarketers and third-party call centres, whether based in Canada or abroad, must be properly registered and have a valid subscription to the National Do Not Call List before engaging in telemarketing calls.”
To date, the CRTC has imposed over $8 million in penalties payable to the Receiver General for Canada.
