OE-CNT-DEC20140001: CONATEL decision of 26 August 2014 on unsolicited SMS and telephone cold calling (Le Moniteur, 169th year No. 170, 8 September 2014)

Le Moniteur, 169th year No. 170, of Monday 8 September 2014, carries CONATEL decision OE-CNT-DEC20140001 of 26 August 2014, alongside a non-reimbursable financing agreement between Haiti and the Inter-American Development Bank, No. 3260/GR-HA on the modernization of public services.

The decision governs commercial solicitation over telephone networks. Articles 1 and 2 address ring back tones used as advertising: the standard ringing tone must remain audible underneath, and an advertising message played during switching must not lengthen it. Article 3 confines unsolicited cold calls to the hours between eight in the morning and eight in the evening. Article 4 forbids operators and service providers to send unsolicited advertising SMS between eight in the evening and eight in the morning, except in an emergency, a natural disaster, or at the request of the competent authorities.

Articles 5 to 7 build the opt-out. Each operator must give subscribers a number reachable by SMS for entering their number on a liste d'exceptions; no advertising call or SMS may be routed to a number on that list, except the operator's service messages helping a user make better use of the services offered; and entry or removal is free and takes effect within twenty-four hours, with the operator running a confirmation procedure inside that period. Article 8 requires each unsolicited SMS to display the originating telephone number. Article 9 puts on each operator the responsibility of telling the public and its users how to stop receiving unsolicited marketing.

Article 10 fines any service provider, marketing company, individual or other party calling or texting outside the permitted hours or against the user's wishes 50,000 gourdes per SMS batch sent under one command with the same text, and 100,000 gourdes per voice batch sent under one command with the same recording, the facts being gathered and assessed by CONATEL under Article 146 of the decree of 12 October 1977. Article 11 doubles the fine on each fresh violation. Article 12 requires operators to give CONATEL whatever identifies the author of a call or SMS. Article 13 routes the fines to the Direction Générale des Impôts under Article 150 of the same decree. Article 14 puts the decision in force on publication in Le Moniteur.