February 5, 2015 – Ottawa–Gatineau – Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) announced today that Hamel Système d'Information 2000 Inc., also known as Telelisting, will pay $260,000 in monetary penalties as part of a settlement for violations of the Unsolicited Telecommunications Rules. Telelisting provides telephone directory services for online lead generation.
Acting on information received from Canadians, the CRTC investigated Telelisting for alleged violations of the Rules. The CRTC concluded that the company had divulged contents of the National Do Not Call List (DNCL) to its clients in violation of the Rules.
During the period from July 10, 2012, to July 10, 2014, Telelisting shared contents of the DNCL with persons outside its organization; those persons had not paid a subscription fee to the DNCL operator or were not subscribers. In addition to paying the penalty, Telelisting has committed to complying with the Rules in the future by voluntarily implementing a comprehensive corporate compliance program and contributing to awareness of the Rules within the Real Estate industry.
The CRTC would like to reiterate that it is the duty of anyone making telemarketing calls to comply with the Rules. The use of third-party telephone directory services is not a replacement for a subscription to the DNCL. All telemarketers, including real estate agents and brokers, must subscribe to the DNCL. Unless they are making telemarketing calls that are not subject to the Rules, telemarketers are required to subscribe to the DNCL to obtain a list of numbers they may not call and update their own lists.
The CRTC is continuing to enhance its monitoring to ensure telemarketers follow the Rules, and to reduce the number of unwanted calls to Canadians. The CRTC can discuss corrective actions with individuals, firms or organizations engaged in telemarketing, which may lead to a settlement that includes an administrative monetary penalty and other corrective measures. The CRTC can also issue warnings and citations, conduct inspections and issue notices of violation.
To date, the CRTC's enforcement efforts have yielded over $5.7 million in monetary penalties.
The DNCL was launched in 2008 to protect Canadians from unsolicited telecommunications. Canadians may register permanently on the List at no charge. Over 12.7 million numbers are currently registered on the List.
Canadians can register their numbers, verify whether a number is on the List or file a complaint about a telemarketer by calling 1-866-580-DNCL (3625) or visiting www.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca.
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