Regulation of the “Do Not Call Registry”

Decree No 932/2009 ("Decree"), published in the Official Gazette of the City of Buenos Aires on October 28, 2009, regulates Law No 2014 that created the "Do Not Call Registry ("Registry") in the area of the City of Buenos Aires (“CABA”) (please refer to “The City of Buenos Aires enacts new laws on personal data protection and labor privacy” in Marval News # 53).

First, the Decree extends the application of the Registry not only to land or mobile lines subscribed or billed within the CABA, but also to those authorized by owners to use the lines. Both are defined by the Decree as Phone Services Users ("Users").

The Decree set forth that its dispositions are binding to all companies using telemarketing system to advertise, offer, sell and / or donate goods and / or services (business) and have within the scope of CABA:

(i)   its registered office or principal place of business, or
(ii)  a branch, subsidiary, or representation.

The enforcement authority related to the Registry is the General Direction of Defense and Consumer Protection, an agency belonging to the Secretariat for Citizen of the Chief of Cabinet of CABA.

Companies can not call any User registered in the Registry.

Companies are responsible for notification of the registrations made by the Users of both of inputs and outputs.

In this regard, Law No 3175 of CABA, published in the Official Gazette of the City of Buenos Aires on October 9, 2009, modified Article 11 of Law No 2014, stating that all companies using the telemarketing system within the CABA shall check for the first time, the Users registered in the Registry, within thirty (30) days from its enactment, which happened on October 6, 2009. In the future, all companies must notify every fifteen (15) days of inputs and outputs of the registrations.

The Decree states that it is assumed that the companies are informed of the inputs and outputs registered in the database kept by the Consumers Defense and Protection Agency of CABA after the deadlines of the cases mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

Finally, note that the Registry is already operating.