Dubai residents file over 750 complaints against 'annoying' marketing calls

Dubai - Once a complaint is received, the Dubai Economy verifies if the call was made by a company licensed in the emirate.

Waheed Abbas

Published: Wed 13 Oct 2021, 2:39 PM

Last updated: Wed 13 Oct 2021, 2:44 PM

The Dubai Economy on Wednesday said it received 753 complaints against "annoying" promotional calls in the past five months.

Residents have started filing such complaints since the regulator's Commercial Compliance and Consumer Protection (CCCP) department launched the “Do Not Disturb” smart service launched by the department earlier this year.

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The initiative was aimed at protecting the public from unwanted promotional calls made by businesses or third-party marketing agencies.

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Once a complaint is received, the Dubai Economy verifies if the call was made by, or on behalf of, a company licensed in the emirate.

The company is then urged to remove the complainant’s number from their marketing database, failing which the case will be escalated for further action.

The Dubai Economy has also called on businesses — particularly companies that primarily depend on telemarketing — to improve their approach and respect the privacy of consumers, which will also help them avoid complaints and subsequent penalties.

The 'Do Not Disturb' service doesn’t involve complaints against individual phone numbers.

Consumers can file a complaint against annoying calls by visiting dnd.ded.ae or through the Dubai Consumer App. They may also call 600 54 5555.

waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com