Neighbourhood Energy Pty Ltd (Neighbourhood Energy) has paid a penalty of $22,000 after the Australian Communications and Media Authority conducted an investigation that found one of the company’s outsourced Australian call centres made telemarketing calls to numbers listed on the Do Not Call Register (the register).

The ACMA has also issued a formal warning to Neighbourhood Energy after finding that it failed to include an express provision in its contracts with its call centres requiring compliance with the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 (the Act). This is the first time that the ACMA has taken action against a company for a contravention of this particular part of the Act, and follows the ACMA’s targeting of particular industry sectors, including the retail energy sector.

‘If you decide to outsource your telemarketing, you should take steps to protect your business by ensuring robust contractual provisions are in place, and through maintaining adequate control and oversight of the outsourced operations,’ said Chris Chapman, Chairman of the ACMA.

Mr Chapman noted that Neighbourhood Energy has paid the penalty in settlement of the alleged breaches, and has amended all its existing contracts to ensure compliance with the Act.

‘Neighbourhood Energy has fully co-operated with the investigation and has dedicated significant resources to ensure future compliance with the legislation,’ he said. ‘This is a positive outcome that I hope other business sectors reliant on call centres take on board.’

As Neighbourhood Energy has paid the penalty and taken steps to address the issues identified, the ACMA’s investigation of the matter is now closed. The ACMA is pleased to note that there have not been any further complaints about telemarketing calls to numbers on the register made by Neighbourhood Energy since the completion of the investigation.

The ACMA has recently launched the Do Not Call Register Act 2006 Compliance Guide (the Compliance Guide), to assist the telemarketing industry in achieving best practice compliance with the Act. Businesses who have engaged, or are considering engaging, call centres to market products or services should review the Compliance Guide, which is available on the ACMA’s www.donotcall.gov.au