INDOTEL Standards¶
"Standard regulating the use of public telecommunications services for debt collection purposes."
First: schedule and number of telecommunications allowed for debt collection purposes¶
The execution and/or scheduling of telecommunications for debt collection purposes at intervals of less than thirty (30) minutes between one telecommunication and another shall be considered misuse of a telecommunications service, in accordance with the provisions of General Telecommunications Law No. 153-98.
The execution and/or scheduling of more than five (5) telecommunications per day that disturb the peace of recipients shall also be considered misuse, particularly telecommunications made outside the period between seven in the morning (7:00 a. m.) and six in the evening (6:00 p. m.) from Monday to Friday, and on Saturdays outside the period between nine in the morning (9:00 a. m.) and one in the afternoon (1:00 p. m.).
Paragraph I: On holidays or non-working days, debt collection management may not be carried out through personalized or automated telecommunications.
Paragraph II: The number of telecommunications allowed per day shall be calculated by debtor or recipient and by type of debt maintained with the specific entity, not by the medium used. Therefore, regardless of the telecommunications service used to make contact for debt collection, the recipient may not receive more than five (5) telecommunications per day per type of debt, in order to ensure proper use of telecommunications and preserve the peace of recipients.
Second: telephone lines to which telecommunications may be made for debt collection purposes¶
The execution and/or scheduling of telecommunications for debt collection purposes may only be made to residential or personal telephone lines, and not to commercial lines or lines corresponding to the debtor’s workplace.
Telecommunications for debt collection purposes may only be made to commercial lines when the debt was incurred by the business or company, or in cases where the commercial or workplace telephone line is registered in the name of the user to whom the debt collection calls are directed.
Third: provision of information¶
The entity that uses telecommunications services as an instrument to pursue payment of debts must, in all cases, inform the message recipient of the debtor’s full name, the purpose of the telecommunication, the concept of the debt, as well as the commercial name and telephone numbers of the creditor entity.
Paragraph I: When the process of recovering owed amounts is handled by an external entity other than the creditor, the collection message must specify, in addition to the information stated in the previous paragraph, the name of the office or company performing the collection, its contact telephone numbers, and the commercial name of the company on whose behalf it is acting.
Paragraph II: When the entity uses telecommunications services for payment reminders and the payment deadline has not yet expired, it must include valid and active mechanisms that allow the customer to decide whether or not they wish to receive reminders of their payment obligation.
Paragraph III: Without prejudice to the provisions of Law No. 310-14, which regulates the sending of unsolicited emails, it shall be considered misuse of telecommunications not to include these mechanisms in telecommunications for debt collection, as well as to continue sending reminders once the customer has revoked consent to receive them.
Fourth: verification obligation¶
The company or entity carrying out debt collection management, before making or scheduling telecommunications, has the obligation to perform the necessary verifications to confirm and validate that the medium through which the telecommunications will be carried out corresponds to the debtor.
In the case of a residential account, it must be confirmed that the account is enabled at the residence of the debtor recipient. In the case of mobile lines, it must be confirmed that the line is used by the debtor or recipient, or that it is registered in their name.
Paragraph I: Before scheduling an automated system identified as “turbo collection,” the collection entity or agency must perform a person-to-person telecommunication on the corresponding telephone line in order to confirm that the line effectively continues to be a means of contact with the debtor.
A record of this verification must be kept, at minimum, with the following data: first and last name of the person with whom the verification ordered in this mandate was carried out, date and time of verification, telephone number contacted, and telephone number from which the telecommunication originated.
Only after confirming that a telephone number corresponds to the debtor’s residence or is used by the debtor may collection scheduling proceed through the Turbo Collection system or automated telecommunications.
Fifth: procedure for filing complaints and sanctions¶
Paragraph I: A user of public telecommunications services who is subject to a violation of the provisions contained in this standard must file their complaint or claim before INDOTEL’s User Assistance Center (CAU), identifying the entity or person committing the violation and attaching a record of incoming telecommunications issued by their telecommunications service provider.
This record must include the number of telecommunications received from the collection management company, the number of telecommunications received per day, the times at which they occurred, and the name of the line holder. Failure to submit this record shall not be grounds for inadmissibility of the complaint or claim before the CAU.
Paragraph II: Public telephone service providers may not refuse to provide users with the list of incoming calls, which must be stamped by the provider.
Likewise, the user must indicate whether the debtor recipient resides or has domicile at the location where the telephone line receiving or scheduled to receive the calls is installed. In the case of a mobile line, the user must indicate whether or not the line is used by the debtor recipient of the calls.
Paragraph III: The misuse of telecommunications services referred to in this standard shall be deemed a minor offense, in accordance with the provisions of Article 107, paragraph b), of General Telecommunications Law No. 153-98, and may be sanctioned by INDOTEL in accordance with the provisions of said law for this type of offense.
Paragraph IV: Pursuant to Article 110, paragraph “b”, of General Telecommunications Law No. 153-98, recurrence shall be taken into account for purposes of determining the sanction. Without prejudice to the foregoing, in accordance with Article 106, letter k, of the aforementioned General Telecommunications Law No. 153-98, the commission, within a period of one (1) year, of two or more minor offenses sanctioned by a final administrative act with res judicata authority shall be classified as a serious offense.
Sixth: repeals¶
This resolution repeals Resolution No. 002-09, approved by INDOTEL’s Board of Directors on February five (05), two thousand sixteen (2016), and repeals any other provision or measure contrary to it.