SERNAC delivered the results of the first collaborative Working Group developed together with the telecommunications companies Entel, Claro, Movistar and Wom to advance in the fulfillment of requests in order to terminate telephone and text messaging advertising or promotional communications made by consumers.
In this first stage, the companies assumed various commitments aimed at complying with the requests of citizens made through the platforms of the companies themselves or through the “Do Not Disturb” tool.
The National Director (S) of SERNAC, Rodrigo Mateluna, valued the instance and stated that the signing of these commitments is a very relevant milestone for the National Consumer Service, “because they reflect a different model of how one can work, in this case , a public service with supervisory powers, with telecommunications companies, to address a problem that concerns an important group of consumers.”
The initiative also sought an extrajudicial, expeditious and efficient solution, for compliance with the Consumer Law, with the telecommunications companies with the greatest presence in the market, considering the number of consumer subscribers and subscribers, and who presented a higher level of non-compliance following consumer requests.
Commitments acquired by companies:
- Improve the systems and platforms associated with the management of consumer requests regarding the suspension of advertising or promotional communications by telephone and/or text messaging.
- Train all areas and executives that are part of the Do Not Disturb request processes.
- Review and improve the relationship between companies and their service providers. call center.
- Reduce the level of non-compliance with requests to suspend advertising or promotional communications, through SERNAC’s “Do Not Disturb” platform.
- Accredit the complete and correct implementation of the measures, through external audits carried out by each
Francisco Concha, manager of regulatory affairs, government relations and unions at Claro, indicated that “in our company we appreciate this instance led by SERNAC. It is a great step taken together with the telecommunications industry and that directly benefits consumers. Participating in this Roundtable is consistent with our commitment to placing the customer at the center of everything we do.”
For his part, Eduardo Jara, vice president of Corporate Affairs at WOM, called on companies to collaborate with SERNAC to “allow this 2023 Working Group to move on to a 2.0 Table that addresses new topics in the first quarter of 2024.” that today are afflicting telecommunications consumers. Let’s not wait for today’s bad practices to get worse in the future, nor wait for a law. As an industry, we know the 4 or 5 issues that hurt consumers the most today, let’s commit to doing that work, together with SERNAC.”
While Manuel Araya, Regulatory and Corporate Affairs Manager of Entel, valued the instance convened by the institution and stressed that “it is undoubtedly progress, but it is necessary and urgent to deepen the tools to better regulate commercial or advertising calls, for “We have presented several proposals to SERNAC, including a prior consent mechanism and a unique Call Center identification number, which we hope will be accepted and implemented in the short term.”
Finally, Gladys Fuentes, Legal Director of Movistar Chile, expressed her commitment to “continue improving the experience of our clients, complying with each of the signed measures that, we are sure, will have an impact on users who are more satisfied and satisfied with their services every day. . In addition, we will be available to advance with the authority on other additional measures that we can coordinate in the short term.”
“Do Not Disturb” Figures 2023
During 2023, SERNAC received 1,261,897 requests through the “Do Not Disturb” application, which implies an increase of nearly 265% compared to last year (334,972 requests in 2022). 90% of them target three markets: telecommunications, financial and retail.
The requests were made by a universe of 130,050 consumers.
When analyzing by company, in relation to telecommunications. The company Claro was the one that obtained the highest number of applications, with 16.4% (207,204 applications); followed by Movistar, with 15.5% (195,903); Entel, with 12.9% (162,428); and Wom, with 102,174 (8.1%).
Of the total cases entered, 80% were blocked to stop receiving messages; while the rest are due to other causes, such as, for example, that they are still in the blocking process, the requests correspond to non-advertising contacts, or contacts that refer to collections (a matter that is not considered by this platform).
What does the Law say?
The Consumer Law allows companies to send advertising or promotional communications to consumers, but they have the right to request that they stop doing so. Companies, for their part, are obliged to indicate the expeditious manner so that the recipients of the aforementioned communications can request their suspension, from which opportunity they will be prohibited.
For this reason, SERNAC’s “Do Not Disturb” platform facilitates the management so that telephone numbers and emails are eliminated from the companies’ databases and prevent them from continuing to send promotional and/or advertising communications.
If companies do not respect the rights of consumers, SERNAC can report them to court, where companies risk fines of up to 300 UTM (more than $19 million).
How to request a “Do Not Disturb”?
- Entering the Consumer Portal, through your SERNAC Code or Unique Code. If it is your first visit, register.
- Select Do Not Disturb
- Click on “Enter new phone and/or email”.
In the event that the company has not stopped sending promotional or advertising communications, you can enter a “Notice of Non-Compliance” through the Consumer Portal with the following steps:
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