Ban on spam calls is approved at the insistence of Congress

The Plenary Session of the Congress of the Republic approved this Thursday, September 14, the signature of the law that prohibits spam calls for commercial purposes, despite the fact that it was observed by the Executive Branch in May of this year. Legislators supported with their votes the measure that indicates that companies will only be able to communicate with users when they have given their express consent.

The Executive had observed this proposal in three points. First, he pointed out that although it is evident that people’s fundamental rights are affected, it is necessary to apply a proportionality test; second, the principle of regulatory coherence is affected, and third, there is a lack of justification of the need in the three bills that make up the opinion. The Consumer Protection Commission rejected these observations and opted to insist.

“Spam calls affect the majority of the population. They constitute a bad practice by service providers who usually outsource to other companies to make these calls that cause so much discomfort. “All of us have been harmed by spam calls, they do not respect schedules, neither work nor rest, receiving calls every day at any time for advertising and collection purposes.”stated Congresswoman Katy Ugarte, one of the authors of the bills that made up the opinion.

Likewise, the vice president of the Consumer Defense Commission, Rosangella Barbarán (Fuerza Popular), pointed out that the fundamental rights of people have a much higher weight than the right of free enterprise, taking into account that the activity of call centers does not is being banned. “This Commission considers that above the right to free enterprise is the right to health of the human person,” she said.

According to the record of IndecopiTelefónica del Perú (23%), Entel (11%) and the financial and insurance sector (11%) have been the companies and sectors that have had the most complaints from users due to alleged cases of spam calls.