National telecom regulator reveals new telemarketing registry and alert service

In an effort to curb a surge in unsolicited calls from telemarketers and customer complaints, the National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) announced new regulations for using mobile telephone numbers to conduct promotional and commercial calls.

The NTRA will launch an anti-spam alert service and require telemarketers to register these numbers in a special database as a commercial number, in line with the authority’s framework to protect the privacy of telecom users and eliminate spam calls.

In the coming few weeks, citizens will receive an “NTRA Alert” whenever they are contacted by a number from the database, or the identity of the commercial entity prior to the call.

Cold calling, in which a salesperson will call potential customers without their explicit request or interest, is a legal marketing strategy in Egypt, but it is regulated to protect consumer privacy and rights, primarily under the Consumer Protection Law No. 181 of 2018 which obliges businesses to respect consumer privacy.