Major Parameters of Proposed Legislative Framework for Strengthening Regulation of Person-to-Person Telemarketing Calls
Discussion
Mr CHAN Chun-ying commented that the proposed regulatory measures were unlikely to be effective in deterring unsolicited P2P calls but would create hurdles to receivers who would be required to report such calls to the authorities for enforcement and to appear as witnesses during the prosecution process. He queried how many people would register with the DNC register. Mr CHAN suggested that the Administration should, instead, provide free call-filtering application (“app”) for the public who did not wish to receive unsolicited P2P telemarketing calls.
SCED responded that the Administration had, on various previous occasions, highlighted the limitations and difficulties of the regulatory measures against P2P calls. The current proposal was formulated in response to a general public support, as reflected in the recent public consultation exercise, as well as general support expressed by the Information Technology and Broadcasting Panel, for regulating P2P calls by way of legislation. SCED added that other non-statutory measures such as enhancing public awareness of appropriate use of call-filtering apps would continue to be implemented in parallel.