Profitable phone calls: banks violate the law on the prohibition of spam calls
Banks are in no hurry to comply with the law banning spam calls, Izvestia found out. This was reported by experts, as well as cardholders of several large banks. Starting from September 1, credit institutions can make phone calls only if they receive the prior consent of customers. Russians often give it automatically when opening an account. However, if they then ask to stop the calls, the bank is obliged to comply with the requirement. Other financial organizations, such as some insurers, ignore the rules, experts say. What to do if advertising becomes too intrusive, and which banks complain more often — in the Izvestia article.
Banks cannot call customers without permission.
Russians complain about the violation of the law on spam by large banks — credit organizations actively call citizens without their prior consent. Experts told Izvestia about this.
Since September 1, according to amendments to the law "On Communications", banks and other companies are required to obtain a person's active consent for calls, for example, through a separate check mark in the contract or in an SMS confirmation. For clients who have previously authorized the processing of their personal data, revocation of consent is provided. Moreover, this should not cancel existing contracts (that is, the bank should not refuse to open an account, for example, because of this).
This rule should be followed by companies with call centers; businesses where sales and service take place over the phone (delivery, medicine, finance, service services). As well as all sole proprietors who use numbers to communicate with clients.
The innovation applies not only to advertising, but also to any mass mailings, including information about new products. The exception is emergency notifications (in particular, card blocking), said Alexander Kiselyov, a specialist in banking disputes and managing partner at Prov Law Firm.
However, in practice, complaints about spam calls from banks continue. Many credit institutions still use phone calls, although customers explicitly ask them to stop, said Yaroslav Kabakov, Director of Strategy at IC Finam and a lecturer at the Higher School of Economics. Initially, Russians often automatically give consent, for example, when opening an account, without even knowing about it.
— The problem is systemic: mass calls come not only from banks, but also from microfinance companies and other businesses. The reasons for the violation are obvious — phone calls remain a cheap and familiar way of communicating with customers, and collecting explicit consent from millions of subscribers is difficult and costly," Yaroslav Kabakov emphasized.
Bank customers receive annoying calls with offers of loans even after written refusals, Alexander Kiselyov added. Insurance companies also ignore the rules, he added.
Some credit institutions openly do not implement the innovation, while others use circumvention tools, said independent expert Andrei Barkhota. To do this, they call from private mobile phones (such calls do not need to be labeled, unlike corporate numbers) or from a shared number in order to create the appearance of informing (as about important changes that can be warned about). At the same time, when customers ask through employees not to disturb them, the calls continue to arrive, the expert concluded.
How to stop spam calls
Users themselves complain about unwanted calls from banks. On September 14, a customer of the Postbank said that during the week, including weekends, he received calls from employees and spammer bots offering services. Further, despite the request to stop spam, a call was received again from the bank's "financial adviser", according to the commentary of the <url> national rating.
Another customer of this bank also indicated that after a flurry of spam calls, she left an official appeal and revoked her consent to spam calls and SMS messages of an advertising nature, but this did not work.
OTP Bank's client also complained about "telephone terrorism" by the company's employees. According to him, every day he received calls from the credit institution from different numbers. At the same time, requests not to call any more did not work, he said.
The Sinara Bank user indicated that he had never given permission for calls. Moreover, when the cardholder informed the operator about this and explicitly indicated the ban, the employee only suggested contacting the bank branch.
Another complaint was received from a client of Sovcombank. She indicated that in the spring she applied to a financial institution with a request to refinance the mortgage. She was not approved to ease her credit conditions, but the bank began receiving calls with offers of loans secured by cars, as well as recommendations to reapply in a month. In the summer, she applied again and was refused for the second time. At the same time, calls with irrelevant offers have become more frequent again.
Izvestia sent a request to the specified banks. Sinara replied that they fully adhere to the new requirements and strictly follow the procedure for obtaining consent before any calls.
Izvestia also asked the All-Russian Union of Insurers, the Central Bank and the Federal Antimonopoly Service how widespread such violations are. The Bank of Russia recommended contacting the Ministry of Finance. They replied that they were monitoring the market situation, and there had not yet been any mass complaints from citizens about violations of the new rules.
Will the number of calls from banks decrease
For spam calls, banks can receive fines of up to 1 million rubles, and officials — from 20 thousand to 100 thousand rubles. If an organization ignores the rules, customers should record violations (recordings of conversations, screenshots of calls) and require operators to provide details, recommended Alexander Kiselyov from the law Firm "Prov". Russians can file a complaint about violations of their rights through Gosuslugi.
To fully integrate the new requirements, it is necessary to increase the responsibility of companies for unmarking calls and advertising without customer consent, Andrei Barkhota believes. In the meantime, many Russians don't even know that banks are breaking the law in this way — little time has passed. However, by the end of the year, the volume of mass calls may decrease by 30-40%, the expert believes.
By the end of the year, the number of unsolicited calls will indeed gradually decrease, Maria Ermilova, International Financial Adviser, Associate Professor of Finance for Sustainable Development at Plekhanov Russian University of Economics, agreed. However, the full adaptation of the market will take some time, she stressed.
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