OTTAWA-GATINEAU – The CRTC has completed the first round of on-site inspections of 13 telemarketing companies in Toronto and Montreal.
These inspections come as the Commission cracks down on telemarketers who have been caught not following the rules and calling Canadians who have registered their numbers on the national Do Not Call List (DNCL). The initial inspections, which focused on telemarketers in industries chosen based on the trends in complaints, were carried out in Toronto during the week of May 14 and in Montreal the week of June 4, 2012.
CRTC officials reviewed the telemarketers’ telephone records to verify that they had registered with the national DNCL operator, had a subscription for the area codes they are calling, and ensured that they are maintaining an internal do not call list, which is a requirement even for calls that are exempt from the national DNCL.
The inspections uncovered “some minor breaches”, but found that the majority of telemarketers inspected are following the rules.
“Inspections are used to make sure telemarketers understand the rules and to assess how well they are being followed,” said Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s chief compliance and enforcement officer, in a statement. “Telemarketers should ensure that they are in compliance with our rules at all times, and more unannounced inspections will be conducted, when appropriate.”
To date, the CRTC has issued 179 citations and 48 notices of violation with monetary penalties. The CRTC’s enforcement actions have yielded over $2.2 million in penalties and over $740,000 in payments to post-secondary institutions.
