Don't call us: Ministers approve anti-telemarketing bill

telemarketing  photo: Shutterstock
telemarketing photo: Shutterstock

The bill protects telephones of customers against unwanted marketing.

The Ministerial Legislative Committee today approved the "Don't Call Me" bill aimed at preventing exploitation of consumers, especially senior citizens, by telemarketing companies that have been operating freely in Israel for years (sometimes changing their names from time to time).

The companies call vulnerable consumers and solicit them to enter into deals amounting to thousands of shekels for various products that in many cases are not worth a tenth of the price charged. Canceling a deal is almost impossible. The companies do not hesitate to harass customers regularly using tricks such as supposedly free delivery and allegedly unique bargains.

The bill seeks to establish a protective wall for consumers' telephones through a database of names of customers on a "do not call" list. The bill's sponsors are Minister of Economy and Industry Eli Cohen, Minister for Social Equality Gila Gamliel, and the Israel Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority. Under the bill, a database will be set up with the telephone numbers of everyone wishing to be included in it.

The bill's sponsors realize that the current legal situation does not provide enough protection to consumers, especially senior citizens, against slick salespersons utilizing telemarketing. This activity is not banned under the Spam Law, which bars digital advertising without authorization (by email, SMS, or automated answering service). The law does currently not ban telephone calls by salespersons.

The new bill imposes restrictions on marketers even before they contact consumers, which is the purpose of the database. If the database is established, it will restrict in advance the marketers' freedom of action. The Ministry of Economy and Industry emphasizes that such an arrangement is in place in various countries, including the UK, the US, Australia, France, New Zealand, and others.

The next stage is to bring the bill to the Knesset plenum for first reading at the beginning of the next Knesset session, meaning that if things go smoothly, the bill is likely to pass in early 2019. It can be assumed, however, that this bill will also encounter opposition from marketers, both telemarketing companies and communications providers used to calling consumers in order to offer them competing deals. What remains to see is whether MKs will prefer the good of the consumer or that of the telemarketers (whose lobbyists are already getting to work).

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 15, 2018

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2018

telemarketing  photo: Shutterstock
telemarketing photo: Shutterstock
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