Due Diligence Defence And The Do-Not-Call List

Earlier this month, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission ("CRTC") released three decisions imposing administrative monetary penalties ("AMP").

In one case, the CRTC imposed an AMP of Cdn. $18,000 on a company for (a) sending telemarketing fax to consumers whose fax numbers should have been on the company's internal do not call list and (b) telemarketing without being registered with the National Do Not Call List operator. The CRTC rejected the company's due diligence defence. The company argued that its errors were not systemic. However, the CRTC stated that the company did not submit evidence of steps it had taken or business practices it had adopted that would demonstrate due diligence in preventing calls to consumers whose numbers were or should have been on its internal do not call list.