PossibleNOW Survey: 81% of Companies Engaged in International Telemarketing Report Little to No Knowledge of International Laws and Regulations

DULUTH, GA. (PRWEB) APRIL 15, 2020

PossibleNOW™, a leading provider of enterprise preference management, consent, and compliance solutions, today announced the results of its latest survey, showing 81% of U.S. businesses engaged in international telemarketing report little to no knowledge of international laws and regulations.

When survey respondents were asked what their biggest concerns related to global consumer contact regulations were, 65% stated that financial penalties were top of mind. However, when asked if they register with relevant Do Not Call lists to prevent violations that would result in fines prior to conducting outbound calling campaigns in other countries, 54% said they either did not register at all or they weren’t sure if they registered.

Penalties associated with violations of the TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) in the United States can include civil penalties of $500 for each violation and up to $1500 per willful violation. Note that virtually all plaintiffs’ attorneys shoot for the latter amount and TCPA lawsuits have increased 10-fold in the last decade. Also, if a company erroneously calls an individual registered to the national Do Not Contact List, they can be fined over $40,000 per violation by the FCC. And the Canadian CRTC can levy penalties up to $15,000 per violation. Furthermore, legislation can be enforced upon U.S.-based companies who are not complying with similar international laws in their outbound telemarketing communications.

The top regions where companies reported soliciting outbound communications were Canada, the European Union, Latin America and Asia Pacific. While size of company is accounted for with international regulations such as the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), that is not the case with most telemarketing legislation, which warrant flat-fee fines regardless of business size.

“Companies engaged in international outbound telemarketing communications face significant risks and unnecessary fines by failing to implement the necessary preventative tools to keep them in compliance,” said Eric Tejeda, Marketing Director, at PossibleNOW. “International telemarketing regulations are changing rapidly. With privacy playing an important and growing role in countries around the globe, access to registered Do Not Contact lists is more critical than ever before.”