OTTAWA-GATINEAU – Bell Canada has paid a $1.3 million fine for violating the national do not call list rules, the CRTC announced late Monday.
Independent telemarketers hired by Bell Canada to promote and sell its television, telephone, wireless and Internet services made calls between January and October to consumers who had registered their numbers on the national Do Not Call List (DNCL), or who were, or should have been, on Bell Canada’s internal do not call list, acording to a CRTC investigation.
"All telemarketers must respect the wishes of Canadians who have registered their telephone number on the National DNCL or requested that a telemarketer include their number on its internal do not call list," said Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s chief telecommunications enforcement officer, in a statement. "Even though the calls in this instance were made by third parties, Bell Canada must ultimately ensure that the rules are followed.”
Bell issued a statement later in the day saying that it has terminated its relationships with two telemarketers and suspended several others due to non-compliance with the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. It also noted that no violations were committed by any Bell-operated call centres.
In a separate investigation, the CRTC also found that Bell Canada had used automated calling devices to communicate with its prepaid mobile customers without obtaining their prior express consent. Bell said that like other Canadian wireless carriers, Bell Mobility used these devices to alert prepaid mobile customers about their account balances and how they could avoid service interruptions by purchasing additional minutes.
While not admitting fault, Bell said that it has “agreed to change its processes”. It also made a $266,000 donation to the Institute for Information and Systems Engineering at Concordia University “in response to CRTC concerns about Bell Mobility’s use of automated calling devices”.
Bell also said that it "takes its obligations under the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules and the National Do Not Call List seriously", and has “implemented a series of remedial measures in order to ensure strict compliance” by its authorized independent telemarketers.
