OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Canadians may soon be able to permanently register their telephone and fax numbers on the National Do Not Call List (DNCL), the CRTC said Monday.
While marking the DNCL’s fifth anniversary, CRTC chair Jean-Pierre Blais said the CRTC has extended number registrations for another year – to September 30, 2014, while it looks at making registrations permanent. The requirements originally said that Canadians would have to re-register their numbers every five years to avoid unwanted calls from telemarketers.
The Commission added that “it would be too cumbersome to establish a procedure to remove numbers that have been disconnected or reassigned” from the list, and said that it is launching a consultation to find out whether registrations could be made permanent without such a procedure. Canadians are encouraged to share their views on the proposal before October 30, 2013.
Since September 30, 2008, Canadians have registered close to 12 million telephone and fax numbers on the national DNCL and nearly 10,000 telemarketers have registered with the list operator, including some from the United States, India and the Philippines.
The CRTC’s investigations have resulted in $3.4 million in penalties and $741,000 in other payments. To date, the CRTC conducted over 1200 investigations, has issued close to 150 citations, more than 80 notices of violation, and 130 compliance letters to individuals and organizations.
While noting that the majority of telemarketers have registered with the National DNCL operator and follow its rules, Blais encouraged Canadians to file a complaint if they receive an unwanted telemarketing call.
“Nevertheless, rogue telemarketers present an ongoing challenge for enforcement agencies around the globe”, he said in a statement. “These telemarketers knowingly ignore the rules and use technology to hide their identities, while calling Canadians repeatedly and at all hours. In collaboration with our partners, we are stepping up our efforts to track down these rogue telemarketers.”
