SINGAPORE — A property agent, who allegedly sent unsolicited telemarketing messages to numbers registered under the Do Not Call (DNC) Registry, will become the second person to be charged with breaching the registry’s rules, which came into effect on Jan 2.

The unnamed agent, who will be charged in the State Courts tomorrow, faces up to 27 counts of violating the Personal Data Protection Act, which bans companies from sending marketing messages to any number listed on the registry without first getting the owner’s consent.

Those who are found guilty of offences under the Act could be fined up to S$10,000 for every message sent.

On Aug 27, Star Zest Home Tuition and its director Law Han Wei became the first offenders to be fined S$39,000 each under the Act. Both had pleaded guilty to 13 of the 37 charges that the prosecution proceeded on.

The Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) said yesterday that there has been an 82 per cent decrease in the monthly number of complaints involving DNC-related offences, with the commission receiving only 250 complaints last month, compared with 1,400 complaints in January.

The real estate sector currently makes up about 47 per cent of the complaints, it added. Elgin Chong