When the CRTC kicked off their National Do Not Call List (DNCL) in 2008, I was quick to sign up. This banned those pesky and annoying telemarketers from calling your number and selling you on the lowest bank rate, hot travel deals or best cruise lines. It’s been over 3 year now and there’s 10.6 million registered Canadians, but unfortunately I’m still getting the occasional call.
Recently the CRTC have been proactive in fining telemarketers who disobey the law, both big and small businesses. GoodLife Fitness Centres had to pay a penalty of $300,000, Bell disobeyed the law and had to pony up a $1.3 million penalty, and Rogers dished out $275,000.
Today the CRTC have dropped the hammer and enforced action against 85 companies for breaking the telemarketing rules. Apparently this was a 5-month investigation and saw the CRTC issue citations to 74 telemarketers who failed to register/subscribe to the DNCL. The other 11 companies “committed more significant breaches” and were foced to pay penalties totalling $41,000. The CRTC stated in a press release that “the CRTC’s efforts have yielded over $2.1 million in penalties and over $740,000 in payments to post-secondary institutions.”
Andrea Rosen, the CRTC’s Chief Compliance and Enforcement Officer, said “Today’s announcement should serve as a reminder that registering as a telemarketer is a basic requirement. Anyone making telemarketing calls to Canadians while not registered and subscribed to the list is strongly encouraged to come into compliance as soon as possible.”
Tax dollars put to good use.
Source: CRTC
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