Metroland pays $240K for violating Do Not Call List, CRTC says

Newspaper chain Metroland Media Group Ltd. has paid $240,000 for violating Canada's Do Not Call List regulations.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said in a release Thursday that the regulator heard complaints from Canadians that the company, which owns 125 community newspapers across Ontario, was violating rules overseeing unsolicited communications.

The company violated the rules between Jan. 4, 2012, and July 31, 2013, by using an automatic dialing-announcing device to make unsolicited calls, the CRTC said. It also failed to include a local or toll-free number and a mailing address at the beginning of the telecommunication.

"In addition to paying the $240,000 penalty, Metroland will implement a compliance program to avoid similar violations in the future," the CRTC said.

More than 12.8 million Canadians have signed up to add their numbers to the National Do Not Call List since its setup in 2008.

Since then, the CRTC has collected $6.2 million in monetary penalties and $741,000 in other charges.