On 25th December an act concerning consumer rights is coming into force. From the perspective of a client, the most important fact is that he will not receive unwanted telephones or an e-mail correspondence any more – explains Michael Banaszczyk, marketing & sales manager in Emerson Direct Communication company, specialized in direct marketing.
The new act introduces amendments to the Article 172 of the Telecommunication Law Act, according to which „the usage of telecommunication terminal equipment and automatic systems for direct marketing aims provided a subscriber or an end-user has previously consented to this” will be banned. The above sentence means that all advertisements sent by an e-mail and telephones with some offers on which a consumer did not agree will be illegal. Similar regulations have already been applied in other countries, thanks to which the unwanted marketing communication was limited.
Similar regulations have been already applied in the West, for instance, in Germany – says Michael Banaszczyk. – As a result of introduced regulations a few years ago, spamming and telemarketing have practically ended up there. Currently there is no such thing as spam in those places. Some companies had to pay fine and the information about it was presented in media. Therefore, this phenomenon ended once and for all.
According to new regulations, the security will include both natural persons and legal entities.
In the opinion of one representative in Emerson DC, companies running communication with a client by a telephone or the Internet will have to change their marketing strategies. First and foremost, I think that they will notice their present consumers and focus on relations with them and their appreciation – prognoses Banaszczyk. – The communication will be more personalized, aimed at concrete recipients, more depended on consumer needs. Companies will cease to make attempts in gaining new clients by the Internet or a telephone on a mass scale.
The fact of not obeying the regulations will result in severe punishments. For instance, a financial penalty in the amount of 3 per cent of annual revenues will be imposed on a company which sends spam.
The act from 30th May about consumer rights introduces a 14-day term for making a declaration concerning withdrawal from an agreement concluded remotely (until now it was 10 days) and model declaration ready to use (until now there was no such one). The new law imposes on entrepreneurs a duty to gain a consumer permission for each additional payment which exceeds the settled remuneration for main contractual duties, not later than in the moment of expressing a client’s will to conclude an agreement.