Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission’s (CRTC) latest financial report shows that Canadian Do Not Call registry may run out of money by the end of March 2012 and get shut down.
The report shows a troubling trend in which the program gets funded on a year to year basis with no long-term commitments from the Federal government. Currently the program looks shaky in financial terms which makes it hard to attract long-term quality workforce – as per the report: “The lack of long-term funding for the DNCL continues to be a challenge for work force stability and staff retention.”
Lack of funding may come as a surprise to analysts who’ve watched the steady increase in fines issued by the CRTC as a result of complaints issued by Do Not Call registry subscribers. Ottawa citizen claims that CRTC handed out penalties in excess of 2 million dollars in recent years (this month 11 telemarketing companies were issued $41,000 in fines for violating CRTC regulations).
The report goes on to explain that CRTC is exploring different funding options for the program in hopes of finding a long-term solution to the year-to-year funding.
Judging by the currently stingy access to government coffers, operating budget for Do Not Call registry may not get the long-term funding it wants, a potential solution to the problem would be funneling money extracted from illegal Telemarketers back into the program.
Launched in 2008 the program was designed to protect Canadians from illegal telemarketing calls by registering their numbers with the registry. The program’s effectiveness has been questioned by some, but it has also resulted in a number of fines issued against telemarketing companies which are deemed to be violating the law.