CRTC considers changes to do-not-call list
Last Updated: Monday, October 20, 2008 | 3:45 PM ET
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Mere weeks after introducing a national do-not-call list, Canada's telecommunications regulator is looking to change some of its telemarketing rules.
In a news release on Monday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said it would consider exempting electoral candidates who are not officially members of political parties from the list.
Currently, only candidates who are registered members of political parties are exempted from the list.
Denis Carmel, a spokesperson for the CRTC, told CBCNews.ca that this change is being discussed to address concerns that certain candidates — like municipal nominees, who are often not registered members of political parties — would be excluded from the CRTC's definition.
The CRTC will also look at eliminating from the list numbers that have been disconnected or reassigned.
People now signing up for the list have their phone numbers added for three-year terms at a time, after which they have to re-register. This regulation, the CRTC says, is in place in order to avoid retaining numbers that are no longer in use by the person who registered for the list.
Identifying and removing all disconnected or reassigned numbers would make it unnecessary for the imposition of any term limits. This means people who sign up for the list could stay on it indefinitely, said the release.
Looks to harmonize restrictions on auto dialers
The CRTC also said it will work to harmonize its restrictions on automatic dialers with provincial laws that restrict the hours in which auto-dialers can be used. The CRTC's rules on auto-dialers are out of step with the laws in some provinces.
The three proposed changes are being discussed now in order to address issues that were overlooked when the CRTC drew up the do-not-call regulations, Carmel said Monday. For all the proposed changes, the CRTC is asking for public input, and will seek comments until Dec. 4.
Carmel did not specify when he thought the changes could be implemented, but said the CRTC will try to move quickly on reaching a decision.
"We're hopeful that by the end of this year we would have reached a decision."
Telemarketers are barred from dialing a number once it is on the list, and face a stiff fine if they do.
If a registered household files a complaint, the maximum fine is $1,500 for individual telemarketers and $15,000 for companies.
More than 3.3 million telephone, cellular and fax numbers have been registered on the do-not-call list since it was launched Sept. 30.
The CRTC has projected that 60 per cent of the 27 million residential telephone numbers in Canada would be registered on the list within the next two years.
With files from the Canadian PressShare Tools
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