Sprint has found itself in hot water after the Federal Communications Commission ordered the third largest mobile carrier in the U.S. to pay an enormous fine of $7.5 million for violating customers' Do-Not-Call requests.
In a statement released by the FCC, Sprint has agreed to pay the said amount over an unspecified time frame for making unwanted telemarketing calls and texts to customers who have listed their numbers with the national Do-Not-Call registry. The program, which was launched back in 2003, allows Americans to opt out of unsolicited sales calls and texts. To date, Sprint's $7.5 million fine is the biggest Do-Not-Call settlement.
"We expect companies to respect the privacy of consumers who have opted out of marketing calls. When a consumer tells a company to stop calling or texting with promotional pitches, that request must be honored. Today's settlement leaves no question that protecting consumer privacy is a top enforcement priority," says Travis LeBlanc, acting chief of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau in a press release.
Aside from the multi-million-dollar settlement, Sprint will also have to assign one of its top-tier managers as a Compliance Officer to develop a two-year plan of action and operating procedures for complying with Do-Not-Call rules and ensure that Sprint does not violate any of these rules. The FCC also mandated the carrier to implement a training program that will teach all Sprint employees and contractors how to properly record customers' names and numbers in its internal Do-Not-Call list.
For its part, Sprint says its non-compliance is a result of "technical and inadvertent human errors."
"The issues related only to Do-Not-Call rules. We have conducted a thorough, top-to-bottom evaluation of our Do-Not Call data management systems, and significant capital investments have been made to improve our Do-Not-Call/SMS Message architecture, oversight and compliance," writes Sprint spokesperson Crystal Davis in a statement.
The FCC started investigating Sprint in 2009, where Sprint attributed its failure to spare Do-Not-Call customers from unwanted telemarketing calls to an "equipment malfunction." Two years after, further complaints about Sprint's violation of customers' wish to opt out of telemarketing calls spurred the FCC to levy a $400,000 fine on the wireless carrier.
It seems the third time's the charm for the FCC, which hopes that the $7.5 million fine imposed on the frequent Do-Not-Call violator will finally give Sprint the lesson it deserves. Sprint is expected to file an initial compliance report for the first 90 days after the FCC ruling along with annual reports for the next two years.
If you wish to register your telephone number and mobile number with the Do-Not-Call registry, call 1-888-382-1222 or 1-866-290-4236 from the number you want to register or visit www.donotcall.gov. The Do-Not-Call registry does not include calls from organizations you have an established business relationship with, non-commercial calls, calls from not-for-profit organizations and calls you have previously permitted to receive.
