From June 1st, telemarketing companies will have to follow new rules defined by the National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) to combat the mass triggering of abusive telephone calls. The objective is to reduce the inconvenience and inconvenience caused to consumers of telephone services in the country. 
One of the main adjustments is in relation to the duration of the call made by companies to consumers so that it is considered a short call. Previously, calls lasting up to 3 seconds were considered short. With the new rules, calls of up to 6 seconds are considered short, with disconnection at the origin or destination.
The concept of short calls was also expanded to include, in addition to uncompleted calls, normally disconnected by the user before even answering, calls directed to voicemail.
According to Anatel rules, the limit on short calls that companies can make is 85% of the total calls made, for companies that make more than 100,000 calls in a day. Companies that exceed the limits will be blocked for 15 days.
According to Anatel, to circumvent previously established rules, teleservices companies moved the time of short calls to between 4 and 6 seconds. “The monitoring also observed a large volume of fruitless, inopportune or non-dialogue calls that began to be sent to citizens’ voice mails,” says the agency.
Another innovation announced by the agency this Friday (26) is the possibility of determining a block directly by Anatel itself, if a recurrence is identified and prior notification is given. Anatel also determined the use of code 0303 for billing calls, in addition to telemarketing calls.
Service providers that fail to comply with the measures are subject to a fine of up to R$50 million.
Measurements
In 2019, Anatel launched the platform Don’t Disturb Me, to avoid abusive telemarketing. Another initiative was the mandatory use of the 0303 prefix by telemarketing companies, to allow consumers to identify the caller.
Since June 2022, 909 users have been blocked and 143 formal commitments to good practices have been signed by teleservices companies. 24 administrative proceedings were initiated, with a total value of R$28.2 million in fines imposed. It is estimated that around 110 billion calls were avoided during this period, equivalent to 541 calls per inhabitant.
Through the Qual Empresa Me Ligou portal, the user can identify the CNPJ and company name of telephone numbers whose holder is a legal entity.
