The Personal Data Protection Commission has censured multiple organisations for breaching the Do-Not-Call (DNC) Registry requirements.

Investigations started in response to 1,500 valid complaints from the public on some 580 organisations since the DNC rules kicked in on Jan 2 this year.

The organisations in question are from sectors including private education, property, banking and finance, retail, insurance and telecommunications.

Complaints related to suspected unlicensed money lending were also received by the Personal Data Protection Commission, which administers the DNC Registry and enforce its rules. The cases have been referred to the police, said the Commission today.

The Commission said it is investigating an unnamed "recalcitrant organisation" with an intention to prosecute the organisations as it had continued to send multiple unsolicited telemarketing messages to numbers listed in the DNC Registry despite being notified by the Commission.

The Commission has also offered to compound the offences against at least two other organisations for between $500 and $1,000. More than 100 other organisations were also issued warning notices in lieu of prosecution.