Updated: 09/22/2014 14:43 | By Channel NewsAsia
Property agent to be charged for flouting DNC Registry rules
<iframe src="//www.youtube.com/embed/N9lbhU_glqA?rel=0" allowfullscreen="" height="315" width="560" frameborder="0"></iframe>
SINGAPORE: A property agent with Huttons Asia will be charged with breaching the Do Not Call (DNC) requirements under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).
In a news release issued on Monday (Sep 22), the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) said it had received complaints of unsolicited telemarketing messages allegedly sent by the property agent advertising various residential developments in Singapore. The messages were sent to telephone numbers registered with the DNC Registry.
The property agent will be charged in the State Courts on Wednesday, and will face up to 27 counts of contravening section 43(1) of the PDPA, relating to the obligation to check the DNC Registry before sending any telemarketing messages to Singapore telephone numbers.
The property agent is the first in the real estate sector to be charged. The real estate sector currently makes up about 47 per cent of complaints pertaining to DNC related offences, the PDPC said.
PDPC chairman Leong Keng Thai said: “It is a frustrating experience for individuals who have registered their numbers with the DNC Registry to continue receiving unsolicited telemarketing messages, and the PDPC will take enforcement action against those who continue to ignore the rules.”
Real estate agency ERA says its office phones are linked to a system which constantly checks for phone numbers in the registry to help its agents stick to the rules. However, ERA says this does not apply to calls and messages made from the agents' mobile phones.
ERA Key Executive Officer Eugene Lim said that most agents send out messages to their list of clients or past contacts especially before property launches. "What they actually have to do, now with the DNC, is to take the entire list of contacts and scrub it against the DNC list," he said.
Mr Lim added that some agents may only do this once, as it costs money. "So some of them may have decided to cut corners. They do it once and use the list on and on. But actually there is a validity date for every scrub," he said.
NUMBER OF COMPLAINTS FALL
As organisations become more familiar with the obligations relating to the DNC Registry, the number of complaints about DNC related offences has fallen by as much as five fold, the PDPC said.
The PDPC has investigated more than 3,500 valid complaints against various companies since the DNC provisions took effect on Jan 2, and is currently investigating another 1,700 complaints. The companies under investigation are from sectors such as property, private education and retail.
On Aug 27, Star Zest Home Tuition and its director Law Han Wei were the first offenders to be fined a total of S$78,000 for flouting DNC Registry rules. Another two companies have accepted offers to compound their offences in lieu of prosecution, with composition amounts ranging between S$500 and S$1,000, the PDPC said.
There has also been a “small number of isolated complaints” against 900 other companies, and the PDPC said it has issued them with notices that warn of the consequences of sending any further unsolicited telemarketing messages.
About 4,500 companies have registered to check Singapore telephone numbers against the DNC Registry in order to comply with the DNC provisions – a nine-fold increase from the 500 companies that first registered with the DNC Registry when it came into effect on Jan 2. An average of 38 million telephone numbers is checked every month, the PDPC said.
Any person or organisation found guilty of sending unsolicited telemarketing messages to Singapore telephone numbers without checking the DNC Registry will be liable to a fine of up to S$10,000 per message sent. - CNA/cy
