Kirill Katkov commented for DP on the introduction of fines for spam calls

The President of the Russian Federation has signed a federal law introducing liability for intrusive and misleading advertising calls. Fines for companies will be from RUB 300 thousand to 1 mn, for officials – from RUB 20 thousand to 100 thousand, for individuals – from RUB 10 thousand to 20 thousand. The fines for banks and microfinance organisations advertising loans and microloans without indicating the full cost of services have also been increased. Legal entities face penalties from RUB 600 thousand to RUB 1.6 mn, while officials – from RUB 40 thousand to RUB 100 thousand.

Kirill Katkov, Associate at Maxima Legal, explained to the Delovoy Petersburg newspaper that earlier the responsibility for spam calls did not have its own independent composition. It was punished under the “general” part 1 of article 14.3 of the Administrative Offences Code as a violation of advertising legislation by an advertiser, advertising producer or advertising distributor. For it legal entities faced a fine of up to RUB 500 thousand.

“As follows from the explanatory note to the bill, the reason for the initiative of lawmakers was the widespread use of spam calls, including among credit and microfinance organisations, as well as the insignificant size of fines”, – said the expert.

The new federal law establishes independent responsibility for violation of legislative requirements to advertising distributed via telecommunication networks, Kirill Katkov added.

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