The "DO NOT CALL" Registry was introduced in the Republic of Serbia by the new Law on Consumer Protection, which was put into effect on September 19, 2021. Recently, a by-law has been passed thereto, governing the course of registration and deletion from the subject registry, as well as conditions and method of its use and maintenance.
Namely, the above-said law prescribed a ban on making calls and/or sending messages by phone to consumers whose phone numbers are recorded in the registry of consumers who do not want to receive calls and/or messages as part of promotions and/or sales by telephone, which registry will be maintained by the regulatory body responsible for electronic communications (RATEL).
In relation thereto, in the Official Gazette of RS no. 118/2023 dated December 28, 2023, the Rulebook on the Registry of Consumers Who do not Want to Receive Calls and/or Messages as Part of Promotions and/or Sales by Telephone was published, which was put into effect on January 5, 2024 ("the Rulebook"). As mentioned above, the Rulebook governs in detail the course of registration and deletion, the conditions and the method of using and maintaining the registry of consumers who do not want to receive calls and/or messages as part of promotions and/or sales by telephone ("DO NOT CALL" Registry), as well as the form of the request for registration and deletion from the subject registry.
Registration and deletion of data in "DO NOT CALL" Registry
Registration and deletion of data in the "DO NOT CALL" Registry is conducted free of charge by an electronic communications operator who has a signed contract with a user of a telephone number on the use of publicly available electronic communication services based on the request of such user.
Accordingly, registration and deletion of data in the "DO NOT CALL" Registry can only be requested by a user of the telephone number, i.e., a consumer who has a signed contract with an electronic communication operator involving the usage of publicly available electronic communication services or a registered user of a telephone number in the case of pre-paid service.
Submitting of a request is enabled:
1) through an electronic form, by the website of the obligor of registration and deletion, or through an application that the respective obligor shall make available to its users;
2) at the point of sale of the obligor of registration and deletion so that the subject entity, upon the prior identification of the applicant, fills out the request in electronic form.
If the obligor of registration and deletion does not have the technical capabilities to receive a request in the previously described manner, then the request should be submitted in a paper form by the user of the telephone number, i.e., in person at the point of sale. In that case, the obligor of registration and deletion shall ensure the availability of the request form at all of its points of sale and on its website.
A request form is available here.
When the obligor of registration and deletion receives the request, it shall submit to the applicant, i.e., the user of the telephone number, a confirmation of receipt of the request, in the form and in the manner in which he received the request, whereby the relevant confirmation shall contain the date when the obligor of registration and deletion received the request of the user of the telephone number.
Any kind of change regarding the registration or deletion of a telephone number shall be available in the "DO NOT CALL" Registry on the first day following the date of registration/deletion, while the request for the registration or deletion of a particular telephone number from "DO NOT CALL" Registry can be submitted once in a calendar month.
In case of termination of the contract between the user of the telephone number and the obligor of registration and deregistration, there are two possibilities:
1) if the user does not transfer the phone number to another provider, the obligor of registration and deletion shall deregister their number from the "DO NOT CALL" Registry within the time limit prescribed by the law governing electronic communications while
2) in the event that the user transfers the phone number to another provider, the user of the phone number does not need to resubmit a request for registration or deletion from the "DO NOT CALL" Registry, i.e., the previous registration/deletion remains valid.
How to use the "DO NOT CALL" Registry
The Rulebook further stipulates that the trader shall use the "DO NOT CALL" Registry by searching for phone numbers and the date of registration as follows:
1) without registration, with a "yes/no" check, i.e., in such a way that by entering an individual's phone number, information is obtained as to whether the requested number is registered in the "DO NOT CALL" Registry, or
2) by registration, i.e., by using a username and password, which allows downloading the entire list of phone numbers and the dates of the last change in the "DO NOT CALL" Registry.
On the other hand, the user can use the "DO NOT CALL" Registry without registration.
Checking of phone numbers registered in the "DO NOT CALL" Registry is available on RATEL's website.
Exceptions
Accordingly, the establishment of the "DO NOT CALL" Registry obliges the traders to, before calling/texting a certain number, check whether the respective number is on the list of those who do not want to receive calls to which goods and/or services are offered. If a trader acts contrary to this obligation, it can be subject to a fine.
However, if the consumer has disclosed his phone number to a certain trader in order to receive notifications (e.g., about discounts, promotions and other benefits), such trader is entitled to contact them for the stated purposes, despite the consumer's registration in "DO NOT CALL" Registry.
Furthermore, the consumer may revoke their consent (to be contacted by the trader) at any time in the same way in which the subject's consent was given (e.g., at the point of sale).