Do Not Call Registry: 200,000 Dinar Fine per Call
Serbia's new trade ministry rulebook tightens the Do Not Call registry: retailers who call a listed number face a 200,000 dinar fine for every violation.
A fine of 200,000 dinars awaits any retailer who phones a consumer listed on the Do Not Call registry, under a new rulebook from the Ministry of Internal and Foreign Trade. The rulebook spells out in greater detail how the registry, which has operated in Serbia since the start of 2024, is to be run, and it applies per individual call, not per campaign.
The key change from the previous wording of the regulation is its legal basis. On matters of registration and de-registration, the new rulebook now refers to the Consumer Protection Law, while the earlier version pointed to the Electronic Communications Law. The difference is not a formality: it determines which fine applies and how quickly.
How Much Does Ignoring the Registry Cost?
The Consumer Protection Law sets a fine of 200,000 dinars for a retailer as a legal entity, and 50,000 dinars for the responsible person within that entity, for each violation. The Electronic Communications Law, for direct marketing without a consumer’s prior consent, provides for a wider range, from 500,000 to 2 million dinars, but only through a misdemeanor proceeding that takes longer to conclude.
Vesna Perincic of the Consumers’ Union of Serbia points out that a lower per-violation fine does not mean lighter sanctions, since a misdemeanor order is issued for every individual case.
“A misdemeanor order is more effective because it triggers an immediate response. If a retailer failed to check whether a particular consumer was on the registry before calling them, a fine of 200,000 dinars can follow. If the same obligation was not met with another consumer, a new fine can follow, and so on,” Perincic explains.
Unlike the fine under the Consumer Protection Law, which is issued immediately by order, a fine under the Electronic Communications Law requires a full misdemeanor proceeding, a longer sanctioning mechanism.
How Do You Register a Number With the Do Not Call List?
Signing up for or removing a number from the registry remains free, and is still handled by the operator with which the consumer holds a telecommunications contract. Every mobile and fixed line operator is required to offer this option to its customers, and only the owner of the number can request registration or removal.
A consumer may change their number’s status, either registering or removing it, at most once per calendar month, and the change takes effect the day after it is processed. The rulebook also specifies that the registry database holds data on the consumer, their number, and the operator that carried out the registration or removal.
Before every call made for promotion or sales purposes, a retailer must check whether the number is on the registry. If the number is not registered, the call is allowed, but the retailer may not conceal who is calling, which company they represent, or the fact that the call’s purpose is sales or promotion. To invite a consumer to a promotional event, even when their number is not on the registry, the retailer needs written consent before the event itself.
The Do Not Call registry went live on January 5, 2024, under the authority of the Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RATEL), which ran the database at the time. The new rulebook does not change that infrastructure; it tightens the retailer’s obligation to check the registry and more clearly defines the fine for failing to do so.
A retailer who calls a number on the registry can be reported to the market inspection.
