Telesales ignore Dutch ‘Don’t phone me’ list

RNW, 13 February 2012

Dutch companies appear not to be taking the Bel-Me-Niet Register ("Don’t phone me list") seriously (link in Dutch).

The list was launched in 2009 for people who don't want to be called by marketing companies. Legislation made it illegal for telesales departments to contact people registered on the list.

But Dutch telecom watchdog OPTA says nearly 10,000 people on the list still found themselves answering telemarketing calls last year.

Dutch news site RTL Nieuws reports that 97 percent of the 9,421 complaints to OPTA in 2011 came from people registered on the list. In 65 percent of the calls, the telesales operators also broke the law by failing to tell the potential customers that they could have registered with the ‘Don’t phone me’ list.

Lottery, energy, telecom and television companies were the worst offenders, with newspapers and magazines also often phoning people against their will. OPTA has had telesales companies which ignore the law in its sights for some years. In 2011, it imposed fines totalling 1.2 million euros.

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