Federal inspectors have paid surprise visits to telemarketing centres in Toronto and Montreal to make sure the industry is following the Do Not Call List rules.
Inspectors from the Canadian Radio-television and TelecommunicationsCommission (CRTC) have visited 13telemarketing centres all together,with inspections carried out in Toronto the week of May 14 and inMontreal the week of June 4.
So far only minor violations have been uncovered, the CRTC said in arelease Thursday.
“These inspections were conducted to ensure telemarketers are followingthe rules and not calling Canadians who have registered their numberson the National Do Not Call List,” the release stated.
And there may be more to come, the CRTC warned.
“More unannounced inspections will be conducted when appropriate,” it added.
A total of 179 citations and 48 violation notices with monetarypenalties have been meted out since the list was introduced in 2008.Over 10.8 million phone numbers have been registered on the list byCanadians who don’t want to be bothered by unsolicited calls.
According to media reports circulating in April, the DNCL had run outof money and was only able to continue operating thanks to aninfusionof funding by Ottawa. But the federal government announced that samemonth that the cost of operating and enforcing the list would betransferred to the telemarketing industry itself.
While consumers seem to be happy withthe DNCL, some small businesseshave complained that the rules governing it are confusing orunfair tothem.