Commercial communication
(1) any statement (2) by electronic means intended for direct or indirect advertising of goods or services or for the advertising of the image of a merchant, organisation or person performing commercial activity, economic activity or regulated professional activity (3). . (4) Information enabling direct access to general information on the service provider and its activities (domain name or e-mail address) shall not be considered as a commercial statement.
Although no legislative act specifically provides for clarification of the term “in electronic form”, taking into account the provisions of the Information Society Services Act and the Electronic Communications Act, “in electronic form” means the dissemination of information through electronic mail, fax (facsimile), automatic dialling (terminal) systems operating without human participation, and others publicly available available electronic communications services. .
In order to be legal, the sending of commercial communications must comply with the provisions of Section 8 and Section 9 of the Information Society Services Act.
Requirements for the dissemination of commercial communications:
- it is clearly recognisable as a commercial statement;
- is a clearly identifiable person on whose behalf this commercial statement is circulated;
- the content of the offer and the terms of receipt of the service are clearly defined;
- discounts, bonuses and awards are clearly recognisable and the terms of their receipt are clearly set out;
- advertising competitions, lotteries or games shall be clearly recognisable and the relevant rules of participation shall be easily accessible, as well as clear and comprehensible statements;
- the recipient of the service has been given the opportunity to refuse to receive further commercial communications.
It shall be prohibited to use automatic dialling (end-equipment) systems operating without participation (automatic calling devices), electronic mail or fax machines (facsimiles) using a possible individual contact with the recipient of the service if the recipient of the service has not previously given free and unambiguous consent.
It is prohibited to use e-mail for sending a commercial message if the identity of the sender is hidden or defaulted (even if the communication is made on behalf of the sender) or if an invalid e-mail address is used to which the service provider could send a request to terminate the communication.
Responsibility for sending a commercial notification:
Article 204. ¹ ⁶ of the Latvian Code of Administrative Violations provides for administrative responsibility for sending a commercial communication (the Data State Inspectorate is entitled to refer to the case of an administrative violation).
A commercial notification must meet the requirements of the Advertising Law and NKAL. . Regarding violation of advertising regulations and unfair commercial practices, Section 166. ¹ ³ of the Latvian Administrative Violations Code provides for administrative liability (the Consumer Rights Protection Centre is entitled to see the administrative violation case).
Sending each banned commercial notification is a separate violation.
For additional information:
Electronic version of the recommendation “Sending of commercial communications” developed by the State Data Inspectorate.
The circulation of information society services within the scope of their competence shall be monitored by:
- Consumer Rights Protection Centre
- Data State Inspectorate
- other supervisory and control authorities