On 5 February 2024, Venezuela’s SUNDDE (National Superintendency for the Defence of Socio‑Economic Rights) released an official notice on its website. It reaffirms that all commercial offers, prize draws and promotions delivered through SMS and automated telephone calls must undergo prior‑approval filing with SUNDDE. It clarifies document‑submission deadlines, approval validity terms and violation‑penalty benchmarks, further detailing and reinforcing implementation of the 2014 Administrative Resolution No.004.
Article 1 of the notice defines the scope of review: any commercial offer, prize draw or product promotion sent to consumers via bulk‑SMS and automated outbound voice‑call telecom channels counts as commercial marketing subject to mandatory prior approval. Entities may not circumvent approval requirements by labelling activities as internal notices or member‑exclusive benefits.
Regarding submission timelines, merchants shall send complete application documents to SUNDDE’s designated email address at least 15 working days prior to campaign launch. The 15‑working‑day review window enables SUNDDE to thoroughly check promotional copy for false advertising, price‑misleading content and manipulative consumption prompts. Incomplete or non‑compliant submissions will be returned for revision, and campaign launch dates shall be postponed accordingly.
For approval validity, each promotion authorisation remains effective for a maximum of 90 calendar days and cannot be extended. New applications must be filed for subsequent identical promotional campaigns upon expiry. Re‑use of old approval reference numbers under guises such as campaign continuation or additional rounds is prohibited.
On sanctions, large‑scale unreported A2P bulk‑SMS broadcasting constitutes unlawful marketing. SUNDDE may impose administrative fines and order immediate dispatch suspension. Repeat or severe infringements attract compound penalties under the Organic Telecommunications Law and consumer‑protection regulations. Following this notice, SUNDDE substantially strengthened inspection of marketing‑related SMS, and multiple companies have been formally investigated for sending unapproved bulk messages.
