The federal government has halted the implementation of a part of Canada’s anti-spam law, which would have allowed Canadians to sue businesses that violate spam rules.

The “private right of action” provision of the law was scheduled to take effect July 1. But in response to “broad-based concerns” raised by businesses and various organizations, the government announced earlier this month that the provision has been suspended indefinitely.

“Canadians deserve to be protected from spam and other electronic threats so that they can have confidence in digital technology. At the same time, businesses, charities and other non-profit groups should have reasonable ways to communicate electronically with Canadians,” Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development Navdeep Bains said in a news release.

“We have listened to the concerns of stakeholders and are committed to striking the right balance.”

Bains’ office also said the government has asked a parliamentary committee to review the legislation. 

The announcement does not change the way existing provisions of Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation (CASL) are enforced.

The law, which came into effect in 2014, requires that businesses get written or oral consent before they send emails or other digital messages to consumers. Companies must also clearly identify themselves in each message and allow recipients to unsubscribe from digital mailings.

The anti-spam legislation has resulted in big fines for some companies over the last two years. In 2015, Quebec-based Compu-Finder was fined $1.1 million, Porter Airlines received a $150,000 fine and dating website Plenty of Fish was fined $48,000 for violating the law.

But as the deadline to implement the “private right of action” provision approached this year, many business associations and litigation experts expressed concern about what they called potentially frivolous and costly lawsuits from individual Canadians over marketing emails and text messages. 

Monique Moreau, the vice-president of national affairs at the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, told CTVNews.ca in March that the “extra layer of legislation is a bit overkill.”

In early February, three different sections of the Canadian Bar Association, which represents lawyers, notaries and academics across the country, asked the government to delay implementing the private right of action provision of CASL until a scheduled statutory review of the entire legislation is completed.