Main Advisory Guidelines

7 DNC Provisions

Do Not Call (DNC) Provisions apply when an organisation sends specified messages to Singapore telephone numbers, in particular:

1. The sender of spcified message is in Singapore when the message is sent; or
2. The recipient of the specified message is in Singapore when the message is accessed.

DNC do not apply if both the sender and the recipient are not in Singapore when the message is sent and accessed respectively. DNC provisions came in full effect on 2 January 2014.

PDPC’s provides advisory guidelines on the Do Not Call (DNC) provisions. We summarised them into 7 points which served only as reference below:

1. Specified Message
2. Clear and Unambiguous Consent
3. Sender of Specified Message
4. Exemption Order
5. DNC Operational Rules
6. Checking DNC Registry
7. Spam Control Act

Do Not Call Registry for Organisations

Specified Message

• One should note that DNC provisions do not apply to B2B (Business to Business) operation.
• B2C (Business to Consumer) marketing messages are included in the scope of DNC. Examples are offer to supply, advertise or promote certain goods or services or advertising/ promoting land, interest in land, business/ investment opportunities etc.
• The following are not covered in the scope of DNC:
  1. B2B marketing;
  2. Personal calls & sms;
  3. Market research or surveys;
  4. Messages by public agencies for non-commercial programmes.

Defnition of Specified Message

• A message is considered Specified if any of the purpose of that message is:
  1. To advertise, promote or offer to supply or promote:
     • goods or services;
     • promoting/ advertising land or an interest in land;
     • a business or investment opportunity.
  2. to advertise or promote a supplier/ provider of the items sub-listed under point 1 above;
  3. any other prescribed purpose related to obtaining or providing information.

DNC Registry

• One to take note that emails are not under the provisions of DNC. Below are 3 channels that are included in the scope of DNC:
  1. Voice Calls;
  2. SMS/ MMS/ Texts;
  3. Faxes.
• If the message can be sent without the use of phone numbers, e.g., cell-broadcast, skype are not included in scope of DNC.
• Organisation’s key obligations are:
  1. Check against DNC registry within 30 days before doing marketing (60 days in the first 6 months) unless they have clear and unambiguous evident consent.
  2. Display their ID, contact info and originating number. Anonymous/private numbers are not allowed.

Clear and Unambiguous Consent

• An organisation should seek clear and unambiguous consent from the individual in what channel the individual could be contacted for what purpose(s). For good practice, organisation may clearly state which channel the individual would like to be informed of what information. For example, organisation can seek consent from an individual to receive information about promotions and offers by:
  1. Phone;
  2. SMS;
  3. Email;
  4. Mail;
  5. Fax.
• The individual may choose to tick or check the boxes his preferred method of receiving such information.

Sender of Specified Message

• The “sender’ of the specified message is responsible for complying with the DNC provisions.
• A “sender” refers to a person:
  1. Who sends the message, causes the message to be sent, or authorises the sending of the message; or
  2. Who makes a voice call, causes a voice call to be made, or authorises the making of the voice call containing the message.
• If Person X authorises Person Y to promote his goods, services, land, interest or opportunity, Person X would be deemed to have authorised the sending of messages for that purpose, unless Person X had taken reasonable steps to prevent Person Y from doing so. 
• Note that there could be more than one sender for any particular case. I.e., the person who sends the message and another who causes or authorises the message to be sent.

Exemption Order

• Organisations are only exempted from the duty of checking DNC registry where:
  1. Current on-going relationship with recipient (past relationship or one-off transactions not included);
  2. Message is related to subject of on-going relationship (unrelated messages not exempted);
  3. Text or Fax message only (Does not apply to voice calls).
• Other Conditions:
  1. Message should contain information on how to opt out:
     • Same mode as message (text or fax) and no additional charges other than usual text or fax message charges;
     • No further exemption message may be sent to same number after 30 days once individual opt out;
  2. Individual has not withdrawn consent or indicated he does not consent to the sending of any Specified Message.
• An exempt message must:
  1. Still have clear and accurate information:
     • identifying the individual or organisation who sent or authorised the sending of the message; and
     • about how the recipient can readily contact that individual or organisation.
  2. Not use a private or anonymous number.
• The following are recognised as on-going relationship:
  1. Membership
  2. Subscription
• The following are not on-going relationship:
  1. Individual calls a salesperson to enquire about a property
  2. Individual visits a show flat
  3. individual made an appointment/ reservation and left his contact number
• Note that a credit card company cannot use the exemption of on-going relationship to notify an individual of property development launch as this is unrelated to the service they provide to the individual.

DNC Operational Rules

• An organisation can create 3 types of account:
  1. Organisation registered in Singapore
  2. Overseas organisation with no presence in Singapore
  3. Individual who needs to check e.g., agents and freelancers
• Each organisation is entitled one main account and as many sub-accounts:

Checking DNC Registry

• The account holders can log in to the DNC registry website (www.dnc.gov.sg) to submit their telephones for checking:
  1. Singpass for local organisation and individuals;
  2. Issued ID for foreign organisation;
• Telephone number submitted will be checked against all 3 DNC Registers.
• There are 2 methods of submitting telephone numbers for checking:

• An organisation or individual checking DNC registry on behalf of others have to declare the identity and particulars of the organisation/ individual they are checking on behalf of.
• The list can be created during account creation and amended subsequently.

Spam Control Act (SCA)

• The SCA governs how spam messages may be sent. It works concurrently with PDPA: