Around 3,000 organisations warned for flouting Do Not Call rules

SINGAPORE — Some 3,000 organisations have been issued notifications and warnings for flouting Do Not Call (DNC) rules since laws came into effect in January 2014.

Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim gave this update in Parliament on Monday (Feb 29), as he said there were around 9,700 valid complaints against 1,500 companies — mostly in the property, retail, and financial sectors.

In addition to marketing messages, the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) has received around 26,500 complaints on messages relating to illicit activities such as illegal gambling and unlicensed money lending, said the minister, adding that these cases have been forwarded to the police.

The DNC registry, which is run by the PDPC, allows individuals to register their telephone numbers, in order to opt out of receiving marketing phone calls, mobile text messages such as SMS or MMS, and faxes from organisations.

Dr Yaacob, who was answering Mr Zainal Sapari’s (Pasir Ris-Punggol GRC) question, said most companies that flouted the DNC rules did not understand the requirements of the law and how to comply with them, given that the statute is still relatively new. He added that most complaints involved one-off breaches, and the companies were issued warnings and notices.

The minister also outlined the efforts by the PDPC’s public education and outreach programmes which aim to help organisations and members of the public gain a better understanding of the Act through workshops and e-learning resources, among others. More than 23,000 participants from around 7,500 organisations have been engaged through such efforts, which has helped reduce the number of DNC complaints by more than 50 per cent last year.