Original Do Not Call entries to expire soon

Australians who submitted their telephone numbers to the national Do Not Call register in the hope of avoiding dinner-time calls from telemarketers may be in for a surprise, as the first entries on the list are set to expire.

It comes as businesses have continued to lobby the Government in order to have workplace numbers added to the register.

The register has been labelled a success with over four million numbers expected to be registered before the end of the year, but over one million numbers will reach their three-year expiry date in May next year.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has warned Australians with numbers on the list to relist themselves for another three-year period.

If subscribers fail to re-enlist before their numbers expire, telemarketing agencies will be permitted to use those numbers for marketing purposes.

Telstra was one of the last businesses to breach the Do Not Call Register provisions, after ACMA conducted an investigation and found Telstra had inadequate compliance systems, procedures and supervision which led to consumers on the register who are not Telstra customers being contacted.

In August, the telco giant was forced to pay $101,200 to the communications authority.

Meanwhile, the Government launched a review of the Do Not Call register last month, but this review did not cover the Government’s controversial plan to add business numbers to the register.

While many SMEs support the proposal, marketing experts have warned that adding business numbers will make it difficult for some companies to conduct B2B sales.

An analysis conducted by Access Economics has identified compliance costs as a major barrier to adding business numbers to the register.

“Anecdotal evidence obtained through stakeholder consultation revealed that the cost to establish a comprehensive IT compliance system could range from $50,000 for a medium size business to $2 million for a large business,” the report says.

Other objections to adding business numbers included stifling competition and innovation.