Consumer protection law changes: No cold calling at weekends, no charges for paper bills and two-week cooling-off periods
Monday, June 16, 2014 @ 2:20 PM
NEW legislation aimed at protecting consumers came into force on Friday, and means members of the public can opt out of telephone 'spam' and will receive all their bills through the post in paper format unless they specifically request them to be sent via email.
No charges can be made for switching to paper bills, nor for those who currently receive them in this way.
Telesales departments are forbidden from making cold calls before 09.00hrs and after 21.00hrs, or on weekends and bank holidays.
The caller must give the name of the company, call from a recognisable number – not a withheld or private one – and must inform the consumer of his or her right to request they do not continue to receive sales calls.
Automated cold calls without human intervention, or telefaxes, may not be made without the consumer's express permission.
In the last couple of years, members of the public have been reporting a series of calls made to their numbers from a 981 number, which is the prefix for the province of Vigo, in north-western Galicia.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com