OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Four companies have paid $92,500 as part of settlements over violations to Canada's telemarketing rules, and the CRTC has fined a fifth company $30,000, the Commission said Thursday.
Acting on complaints, the CRTC investigated four companies for presumed violations of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. As part of settlements, these companies paid a total of $92,500 in monetary penalties as follows:
– AcademyOne Learning Ltd., a company offering educational tutoring – $25,000
– Eagle Water of Ontario, a water treatment company – $32,500
– Outsources Inc., a telemarketer offering calling services for telemarketing – $15,000
– Scentral Cleaning Services, a residential and commercial cleaning company – $20,000
The CRTC also imposed a $30,000 monetary penalty on Ontario Eco Energy Inc. for having made unsolicited calls for a client that had not subscribed to the do not call list or registered with its operator.
These five notices of violation are the last associated with investigations closed in 2014-2015. During the past year, the CRTC issued 32 notices of violation totalling over $2 million in monetary penalties, which accounts for a third of the penalty amounts imposed to date. It also issued 16 warning letters and 5 citations.
"The year 2014-2015 was a very busy one for the CRTC, and we are proud of the results we achieved”, said Manon Bombardier, CRTC chief compliance and enforcement officer, in the announcement. “Through our investigations, we strengthened the collaboration with our domestic and international partners, and we took enforcement actions that changed telemarketers' business practices to protect the privacy of Canadians. I encourage Canadians to continue sending us their complaints regarding unsolicited calls. This support is essential to our work.”
To date, the CRTC has imposed penalties totaling over $6.2 million payable to the Receiver General for Canada.
