Seven sectors from HK join enhanced regulatory scheme for marketing calls

12 trade associations across seven industries in Hong Kong have introduced an enhanced industry regulatory scheme for marketing calls, aiming to strengthen the oversight of telemarketing practices. 

The movement, originally pioneered by finance, insurance, telecommunications, and call centres in 2011, has now expanded to include the beauty, estate agencies, and money lenders industries.

The enhanced Codes of Practice on person-to-person marketing calls (Industry Codes) (《人對人促銷電話實務守則》（《實務守則》) requires telemarketers to provide their names and contact numbers upon recipients' requests, as well as limiting the number of calls made by telemarketers to the same telephone number within a specific time frame.

Other key features set out in the original industry codes include - marketing calls should only be made between Hong Kong time 9:00 am and 10:00 pm; a telemarketer who makes marketing calls should not conceal or withhold from the called party the calling line identification information of the sending telephone number.

At the beginning of the call, the telemarketer should disclose the name of its principal and purposes of the call, and provide a contact number; the telemarketer should record and honour any unsubscribe request of the called party in a timely manner.

If the telemarketer is aware that the called party is travelling overseas, it should disconnect the call immediately or terminate the conversation as soon as practicable.

Speaking at the launch ceremony, the secretary for commerce and economic development, Algernon Yau, said that in response to public expectations for better regulation of marketing calls, the government has adopted a pragmatic and effective approach by actively collaborating with different trade associations to enhance their industry codes on the condition that normal business operations are not compromised.

"We understand that a number of industries, especially the micro, small and medium enterprises, need to rely on marketing calls to maintain their corporate or business operations. The scheme strikes a balance between the need for business operation and minimising nuisance caused by such calls, while contributing to enhancing the industries' image and hence achieving a win-win situation," Yau said.

Meanwhile, Yau called on the industries to uphold the spirit of unity and collaboration to create a more harmonious and healthy market environment.   

Also speaking at the ceremony, the director-general of communications, Chaucer Leung, said since the implementation of industry codes by a number of industries in 2011, the number of inquiries and complaints related to marketing calls received by the government has been drastically reduced from 2,060 cases in 2011 to 124 cases in the first five months of 2024, reflecting the effectiveness of industry regulation. 

The government will continue to join hands with different industries to further enhance the scheme, Leung added. 

To raise public awareness of the scheme and encourage industries' participation, the the Office of the Communications Authority (OFCA) has also launched a new logo for the scheme. Participating organisations are welcome to use the logo to showcase their efforts and commitments to proactively regulating telemarketing calls.

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