Telemarketing gripes fall
The Age
Tuesday July 7, 2009
COMPLAINTS from people on the Government's Do Not Call register have fallen 60 per cent in its second year as the threat of fines leads telemarketers to clean up their act.The chairman of industry watchdog the Australian Communications and Media Authority, Chris Chapman, said: "This very sizeable drop in complaints indicates that the telemarketing industry is getting the message and changing behaviours."Making prohibited calls to people on the register just isn't worth it - you will get caught and you will get penalised."In May 2007 rules introduced by the Howard government barred telemarketers from calling people who registered their number on the Do Not Call list. There are 3.5 million home and mobile numbers on the register, of which 1.5 million signed up in its first months.In the year to May, the authority received 12,057 complaints about telemarketing, down from 30,060 a year before. While the law gives the regulator the power to issue fines of up to $220,000 a day, so far it has issued just eight formal warnings, accepted eight enforceable undertakings and collected a little more than $300,000 in penalties from businesses that called people on the register.The authority has launched a 48-page guide to help businesses comply with the do-not-call rules, the complexity of which the Australian Direct Marketing Association said was a sign of the "extraordinary lengths" Australian business went to comply with the law.Complaints can be made via www.donotcall.gov.au.
© 2009 The Age