Over the years there have been countless complaints from consumers subjected to unsolicited phone calls at inopportune times. Lawmakers passed the Canadian National Do Not Call List (DNCL) in 2006 and it went into effect on September 30, 2008. Canadians now have the option of registering their wireless, VoIP, fax and home phones to avoid unsolicited calls from telemarketers.
Registering with the National DNCL will reduce but will not eliminate all telemarketing calls. There are certain types of telemarketing calls that are exempt from the National DNCL rules. Canadian registered charities, political parties and candidates can still solicit donations. Newspapers may also call you to sell you a subscription. If you have done business with a company in the last 18 months or inquired about a product or service in the last 6 months, the company is considered to have a relationship with you and may call you.
Telemarketers face a daunting task in ensuring that they adhere to the new DNCL. Being a telemarketer means that your business uses telecommunications technologies to make unsolicited calls or send faxes to consumers for solicitation purposes. These companies are now instructed to pay and obtain the National DNCL and exclude registered consumers from their calls within 31 days.
If a business is found to be in violation of the DNCL National Rules or the Telemarketing Rules, the CRTC may impose an administrative penalty of up to $1,500 per violation for individuals and up to $15,000 per violation for corporations. Bell Canada was contracted by the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to act as the National Operator for DNCL. It is enforced by the CRTC.
Telemarketers using Nortel Business Communications Manager (BCM) or Norstar can contact Resource Software International Ltd. (RSI) for software that will ensure that calls to national DNCL consumers are blocked. RSI offers exclusive applications that filter numbers and compare them with a list of calls. In fact, businesses can also add numbers of consumers who have directly requested to be removed from their calling lists. If telemarketers attempt to dial a number from the list available on your Nortel BCM or Norstar phone system, the call is terminated immediately. There is no need for any other maintenance other than the monthly updates of the DNCL Nacional.
