OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Two home-improvement companies have paid a total of $170,000 as part of settlements over violations to Canada's telemarketing rules, the CRTC said Monday.
Acting on complaints, the Commission investigated Canadian Choice Home Improvements Inc. and Le Groupe Hydro Hvac Inc. for presumed violations of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. The investigations established that Canadian Choice Home Improvements Inc. was registered but failed to subscribe to the national do not call list (DNCL), and that Le Groupe Hydro Hvac Inc. had not registered nor subscribed to the list during specific timeframes. Both companies contacted consumers who are registered on the national DNCL, and in addition, Le Groupe Hydro Hvac Inc. made calls to consumers who had previously requested to be put on the company's internal do not call list.
As part of their settlements, Canadian Choice Home Improvements has paid $140,000 in administrative monetary penalties and Le Groupe Hydro Hvac Inc. has paid $30,000. Le Groupe Hydro Hvac Inc. pledged to review its current compliance program to ensure that similar violations do not reoccur in the future. Canadian Choice has decided to cease making telemarketing calls, but have agreed to implement a compliance program to avoid similar violations in the future should they begin making such calls again.
"Canadians play an important role in our investigations of unwanted telemarketing calls by providing clear and complete information when filing a complaint”, said Manon Bombardier, CRTC chief compliance and enforcement officer, in the announcement. “In this case, their information assisted us in bringing these two companies to conform to the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. Today's announcement is another reminder to all telemarketers that compliance with the Rules is not optional."
To date, the CRTC has imposed penalties totalling over $6.4 million payable to the Receiver General for Canada.
