CRTC TO TIGHTEN TELEMARKETING REGULATIONS
By Adnews Staff
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission intends to strengthen its current telemarketing regulations. On Friday the CRTC said it will reinforce rules for company-specific "do not call" lists and will impose additional identification procedures and rules for predictive dialling devices. The commission also said that the establishment of a national "do not call" list is merited, but such a list cannot be implemented without adequate start-up funding, an administrator, the ability to charge fees to cover expenses and the power to impose monetary penalties on persons violating the rules. The CRTC decision also requires improved tracking and reporting of complaints and statistics and the establishment of an awareness program by telephone companies for consumers and telemarketers.