First published: 28th February 2009
Following a question by the Hon Wong Ting-kwong (Legco Member for the Import and Export Functional Constituency), Mrs Rita Lau Ng Wai-lan, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development gave a written answer detailing operational statistics of the Do Not Call Registers (DNC)and Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (UEMO) reports.
Three DNC Registries, for faxes, SMSs and pre-recorded phone messages, have been established under the UEMO, the registrations as at January 29, 2009 are:
Registrations | Total "relevant" numbers | % of total relevant numbers | |
---|---|---|---|
DNC for facsimile messages | 401,257 | 326,572 (facsimile lines in Hong Kong) | 123% |
DNC for short messages | 393,907 | 11,389,185 (mobile subscribers in Hong Kong) | 3.5% |
DNC for pre-recorded telephone messages | 747,918 | 15,118,194 (fixed and mobile subscribers in Hong Kong) | 4.9% |
Total registrations | 1,543,082 |
Valid DNC complaints | Enforcement notices issued | Warning letters issued | |
---|---|---|---|
DNC for facsimile messages | 684 | 1 | 54 |
DNC for short messages | 4 | 0 | 1 |
DNC for pre-recorded telephone messages | 19 | 0 | 1 |
Total | 707 | 1 | 56 |
With over 1.5 million DNC registrations, and less than a thousand complaints, it appears that the registries are effective at discouraging unwanted messages - or victims are apathetic in reporting problems. Notably, the highest number of complains is for faxes, tending to confirm people's dislike of junk faxes, and the low number of UEMs for the other media.
Mrs Lau also summarised the number of all type of UEM report, up to 29th January 2009:
Reports | |
---|---|
Received: | 9,309 |
Handled: | 6,638 |
Outstanding: | 2,671 |
Average reports per month, July - December 2008: | 740 |
The number of UEM staff has grown form eight in December 2007 to fourteen in December 2008.