Introduction
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government has recently issued Cabinet Resolution no. 56 of 2024 Concerning the Telemarketing Regulations, to give further guidance on the telemarketing done by companies via telephone calls. The objectives of the decision are aimed primarily at achieving consumer comfort and privacy by limiting the channels through which companies can tele-market their products or services.
Obligations on Companies
This cabinet decision is applicable to companies licensed in the UAE including the ones situated in the freezones. The decision has completely prohibited natural persons from engaging in telemarketing through their personal registered phone numbers. The companies are subject to the following obligations:
1. Obtaining prior approval for telemarketing,
2. Providing comprehensive training to the marketers on professional ethics,
3. Only using the local-licensed numbers for telemarketing,
4. Refraining from calling the numbers listed under Do Not Call Register (DNCR),
5. Mandatorily recording the phone call and notifying the consumer of the same,
6. Keeping a record of the phone calls until the period of expiry and submitting records of phone calls with authorities when specified, including the information related to the source of obtaining phone numbers.
Controls on Telemarketing Phone Calls
The decision obligates the marketing calls to be made in a manner which prevents Consumer inconvenience and conforms to the highest standards of transparency, credibility, and integrity. The calls must comply with the following in addition to any other control issued by competent authority in future:
1. Not using marketing means to put unjustified pressure on the Consumer to convince them to buy a product/service,
2. Avoiding deception and misleading promises,
3. Making phone calls only between the time of 9:00 am to 6:00pm,
4. Not calling back the consumer after the rejection of the product or service explicitly, or when the consumer does not answer the call or hangs up the call either more than once a day and more than twice a week,
5. Taking explicit consent before every call from the consumer before stating marketing or advertising a product or service,
Consumer Rights
Consumers may file complaint with the competent authority with respect to Unsolicited Telemarketing Calls. Consumers may also choose to register themselves with the Do Not Call Register (DNCR) to ensure that they do not receive such calls. Further companies are prohibited to share the consumer’s personal data without consent or trade the same with the companies that wish to tele-market their products.
Penalties
The Cabinet Decision also lays down the penalties that shall be imposed on the companies violating the telemarketing rules. The administrative penalties include, giving a warning, imposing a fine or cancellation of license and deletion from the commercial register.
Conclusion
The cabinet decisions will be instrumental in respecting the consumer privacy and will dampen the obsessive measures used by telemarketers to sell products/services. Further this decision will also force the companies to target consumers that are genuinely interested in their products/services and to use alternate less intrusive measures to reach their consumer base.
Thomas Paoletti
Francesca Romana Valeri
