NEW LEGISLATIVE SOLUTION TO PREVENT SPAMMING, “DO NOT CALL” REGISTER

In mid-September of 2021, a new Consumer Protection Law was enacted is Serbia, introducing a series of inovative solutions, some of which are designed to address the long-standing/decades-old issue of digital and telephonic harassment. Namely, the Law introduces a new register called “Do Not Call and Do Not Send Messages,” which is intended to finally prevent unwanted messages, colloquially referred to as “spamming.” However, this new Register has began its operative work several days ago, to be precise on January the 5th 2024.

The Law envisions the establishment of a registry containing the phone numbers of consumers who do not wish to be called or sent messages by merchants offering goods or services. This form of direct marketing involves a seller calling a consumer with an offer for goods/services in which the consumer has not expressed prior interest, commonly known as “cold calling.” Thus, it involves a call/message reception that the consumer did not anticipate. Among sellers, this type of marketing is popular because it provides a cheap and quick access to a wide range of consumers through publicly available phone number databases, such as “white pages.” Regardless of its popularity, this marketing method does not yield significant sales results and, furthermore, generates animosity towards the merchant, both due to the often mistimed calls and the justified stance of consumers that their peace and privacy are violated in this manner.

KEY FACTS ABOUT THE REGISTER:

• The new register will include phone numbers of consumers who do not wish to be called or sent messages by merchants selling goods by phone.
• It is prohibited to make calls and/or send messages (SMS or MMS) to consumers who have registered in the consumer register, indicating their unwillingness to receive calls and/or messages within phone promotions and/or sales. Therefore, merchants will first need to check if the phone number is registered before contacting the consumer in this way.
• The register will be managed by the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RATEL). Registration or removal from the register will be carried out by electronic communication operators with whom consumers have contracts, upon a written request from the consumer.
• Regardless of registration in the register, the consumer’s consent for direct advertising given to the merchant before or after registration in the register remains valid until revoked in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Law. The consent for processing personal data for marketing purposes must be given expressly for this purpose.

HOW IT WILL WORK:

1. The consumer fills out a form whose content will be specified by the competent minister, indicating the phone number for registration in the register, and submits it to their telecommunication operator. If the consumer has multiple phone numbers, they must request registration for each one. Therefore, the assumption that one request implies a ban on calls for multiple numbers of the same consumer does not apply because this is a register of numbers, not individuals.
2. The operator forwards the phone number data to RATEL within 7 days of receiving the request.
3. RATEL enters the new phone number into the database and continues to maintain the register along with other numbers.
4. The register’s appearance will be most similar to searches of records that RATEL already maintains, and the only search key will be the phone number, preventing access to personal data of users of the numbers.
5. Consumers can change their minds and request removal of a phone number from the register, with the procedure for removal being the same as for registration.

The introduction of such a register does not represent a new legal solution, as similar registers have existed in EU member states for several years (since 2017 in Croatia) and have proven to be highly effective. In addition to EU member states, Montenegro in our region has had a register since the end of 2019.

We believe that the implementation of the “Do Not Call/Do Not Send Messages” register in our country will contribute to strengthening trust between consumers and merchants.