Important change from Friday, "Do Not Call" register introduced: Telemarketers to be fined for unwanted calls

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Starting on Friday, January 5, consumers who do not want telemarketers to call them or send texts offering their products and services, can join the "Do Not Call" list, as this is when the regulation defining the conditions for registration will come into force in Serbia.

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Tanjug was told by the Ministry of Foreign and Internal Trade that the register will be maintained by the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services, RATEL, while checking which phone numbers are in this register will be possible on the website of that body.

The rulebook stipulates that only the user of a telephone number can request entry, or removal of that number from the "Do Not Call" list.

All mobile and landline operators must enable their users to register if they wish to do so. The request for entry or deletion from the register is free of charge and can be submitted through the app, electronically or by submitting a request at the operator's business premises.

As explained by the Ministry of Internal and Foreign Trade, a consumer who submits a request to RATEL to enter a telephone number into the register does not submit their personal data for the first time, since that is already in the operator's database and will have been obtained at the time they signed the contract to use the phone service.

They add that the "Do Not Call" register obligates telemarketers to check if a number is on the list of those who do not want to receive calls offering goods or services, before making such calls.

The ministry stressed that fines for telemarketers who ignore this and call citizens whose numbers are in the "Do Not Call" list range from 50,000 dinars for a legal entity, 8,000 dinars for a responsible person in a legal entity, and 30,000 dinars for an entrepreneur.

"A consumer can use the call listing to prove that a seller called them even though their phone number is in the register," the ministry said and emphasized that the purpose of this register is to prevent telemarketers from calling consumers who chose not to receive this types of calls.

The "Do Not Call" register is envisaged in Serbia's Law on Consumer Protection.

(Telegraf Biznis)