Warning over new rules for spam calls in South Africa
New regulations on spam calls have been welcomed, but questions remain about how effective they will be at deterring unwarranted direct marketing.
Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition, Parks Tau, recently introduced significant amendments to the Regulations under the Consumer Protection Act.
The regulations aim to provide stronger measures to regulate direct marketing practices and improve customer protection.
The new regulations are similar to those introduced by the government, but major questions remain about their effectiveness.
Tim Fletcher and Kgatlhiso Mofokeng from Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said that all entities engaged in direct marketing will have to register with the National Consumer Commission’s opt‑out registry.
These companies will have to consult the opt-out registry before contacting consumers. The amendments materially raise the compliance threshold for direct marketing in the country.
Consumers will also benefit from the mechanisms to limit unsolicited communications. The registration for direct markets also needs to be renewed annually and is subject to prescribed fees.
The experts added that the regulations make it clear that direct marketing may not be conducted at all unless the marketer is duly registered.
“This gives consumers greater protection: by registering on the opt-out registry, they can proactively block all electronic direct marketing communications,” they said.
“Once a consumer has registered, direct marketers are prohibited from contacting that individual for marketing purposes.”
Businesses will also need to perform monthly data cleansing exercises. This will ensure that the contact details of consumers who have exercised a pre-emptive block are removed from marketing databases.
The regulations also further enhance transparency, with direct marketing communications needing to identify the sender clearly and include accurate and comprehensive contact details.
The opt-out registry will also need to be maintained with a high level of accuracy, with the regulations requiring that the registry data be kept up to date.
They also introduce a structured fee framework applicable from 2026, adding a financial dimension to compliance for direct marketers, which includes the following fees:
- R2,574 for initial registration;
- R1,930.50 for annual renewal; and
- additional monthly data cleansing fees calculated per data entry.
These fees are set to increase on a three-year cycle, and businesses that engage in high-volume direct marketing must factor them in.
Gaps remain
The experts noted that the amendments significantly raise the complaint threshold in South Africa, with the opt-out registry also introduced in other countries.
South Africa goes a step further with the marketer registration and the annual fee. The experts said businesses that engage in direct marketing need to review their current practices urgently.
However, they did stress that the burning question is whether this will make a difference for consumers.
While international experience shows that do-not-call registries have reduced legitimate telemarketing, the experts warned that large volumes of spam calls originate outside South Africa’s borders.
These cross-border calls are not subject to South Africa’s regulations, so the opt-out registry may not be enough to protect oneself from them.
“It is also not clear whether technical measures at the network level have been implemented to identify marketers who are not following the rules,” said the experts.
“It is evident that a registry without robust enforcement will tend to bind only the compliant.”
While the move is clearly a step in the right direction, Fletcher and Mofokeng warned that the ultimate question remains if it works, or whether “we are just being given traffic lights but no policing.”
Loading ...