Anatel imposes million-dollar fine on Bradesco and Claro for abusive telemarketing

The National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) applied the first penalties for abusive telemarketing. Clear It is Bradesco They failed to comply with the agency’s rules and received fines of R$15 million and R$11 million, respectively.

The million-dollar fines were defined, according to Anatel advisor Artur Coimbra, in an interview with Technoblog, due to the economic power of the two companies. Before application, both were notified and given a deadline for readjustment.

Both Claro and Bradesco can appeal the fine imposed by Anatel.Source: Claro/Reproduction

The entire process against the two companies has been ongoing since April 2023. It is part of Anatel’s efforts to reduce abusive telemarketing. These calls are generally less than three seconds long. The user answers the phone and receives no response from the other end.

To carry them out, companies use robots. In the case of Claro and Bradesco, companies can still appeal the fine. Anatel, in turn, guarantees that it will continue to monitor the companies to avoid recurrence.

Anatel and abusive calls

Anatel’s efforts to combat abusive calls began in 2019, with the creation of the “Code of Conduct for Offers of Telecommunications Services through Telemarketing” and “Don’t Perturbe”. Two years later, code 0303 for telemarketing was implemented.

The regulations were revised in 2022. In the same year, the agency established a limit of 100,000 short calls per day per number. In 2023, Anatel made available the “Qual Empresa Me Ligou” portal, which allows users to consult the CNPJ linked to the lines.

Also this year, the telecommunications agency carried out subsidy No. 22/2023. It will collect users’ opinions to continue the fight against abusive calls.