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FTC | RIN: 3084-AA98 | Publication ID: Fall 2006 |
Title: Telemarketing Sales Rule | |
Abstract: This rulemaking is related to RIN 3084-AA86. In 1995, the Commission issued the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), 16 CFR part 310, under the Telemarketing and Consumer Fraud and Abuse Prevention Act (TSR Act), 15 U.S.C. 6101 to 6108. The TSR requires telemarketers to disclose information; prohibits misrepresentations; limits the times telemarketers may call consumers; prohibits calls to consumers who ask not to be called again; and sets payment restrictions for the sale of certain goods and services. In the fall 2003 agenda, the Commission reported that it had completed its review of the TSR as required by the TSR Act. Among other changes, the amended TSR established the National Do-Not-Call Registry, enabling consumers to register their preference not to receive telemarketing calls (68 FR 4580; Jan. 29, 2003). To date, consumers have registered over 100 million telephone numbers on the Registry, which accepts home land line and personal cell phone numbers at http://www.donotcall.gov or 1-888-382-1222. On July 31, 2003, the Commission published a Final Rule further amending the TSR by establishing the fees that would be charged to entities engaged in telemarketing that access the National Do-Not-Call Registry (68 FR 45134). The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2004, Public Law No. 188-199, 188 Stat. 3, Division B, title V (Appropriations Act), required that the Federal Trade Commission amend the TSR within 60 days of enactment to require telemarketers subject to the TSR to obtain from the FTC the list of telephone numbers on the National Do-Not-Call Registry once a month. After notice and comment, the Federal Trade Commission amended the TSR on March 23, 2004, requiring that telemarketers subject to the Rule access the National Do-Not-Call Registry and purge numbers on the registry from their call lists every month, instead of every quarter as the Rule originally required, and also allowing a consumer to assert a valid do-not-call complaint 30 days after entering his or her number rather than waiting 3 months as originally required (69 FR 16368; Mar. 29, 2004)(Final Rule); (69 FR 7330; Feb. 13, 2004)(NPRM). In the Appropriations Act, Congress also authorized the Commission to collect fees of $23.1 million in fiscal year 2004 to implement and enforce the amended TSR. On July 30, 2004, the Commission published a final rule revising the fees charged for industry access to the National Do-Not-Call Registry (69 FR 45580) (Final Rule); (69 FR 23701; Apr. 30, 2004) (NPRM). On April 22, 2005, the Commission published a new NPRM to revise the fees charged the industry for access to the National Do-Not-Call Registry (70 FR 20848). The comment period ended on June 1, 2005, and the Commission thereafter announced a revised fee schedule that became effective on September 1, 2005 (70 FR 43273; July 27, 2005). On May 1, 2006, the Commission published an NPRM seeking comments about whether to review the fees charged the industry for access to the National Do-Not-Call Registry. 71 FR 25512. On July 31, 2006, the Commission issued a final rule revising the fee structure charged to industry. 71 FR 43048. Under the new structure, the annual fee for each area code of data accessed will be $62, and the maximum amount charged to entities accessing 280 area codes or more will be $17,050. The rulemaking still allows telemarketers to obtain the first five area codes of data for free and allows those entities exempt from the Registrys requirements to obtain access at no charge. The revised fees were effective on September 1, 2006. On November 17, 2004, the Commission published an NPRM proposing to allow prerecorded messages in certain defined situations, seeking comments regarding a possible change in the method used to calculate the percentage of abandoned calls, and announcing the Agencys forbearance from enforcing the Commissions current call abandonment provisions against callers who engage in prerecorded message telemarketing as long as they complied with the proposed change. 69 FR 67287. The comment period ended on January 10, 2005. On October 4, 2006, the Commission issued revised NPRM concerning these issues. 71 FR 58716. The revised and extended comment period ends on December 18, 2006. 71 FR 65762. The Commission proposes making explicit that the TSR prevents sellers and telemarketers from delivering a prerecorded message when a person answers a telemarketing call, except in the very limited circumstances permitted in the call abandonment safe harbor, and when a consumer has consented, in writing, to receive such calls. The NPRM also proposes to change the method for measuring the maximum allowable call abandonment rate in the call abandonment safe harbor provision from 3 percent per day per calling campaign to 3 percent per 30-day period per calling campaign. The Commission also announced that the Commission will no longer forbear after January 2, 2007, from initiating enforcement actions for violations of the TSRs call abandonment provision against companies that use prerecorded messages. | |
Agency: Federal Trade Commission(FTC) | Priority: Substantive, Nonsignificant |
RIN Status: Previously published in the Unified Agenda | Agenda Stage of Rulemaking: Proposed Rule Stage |
Major: No | Unfunded Mandates: No |
CFR Citation: 16 CFR 310 | |
Legal Authority: 15 USC 6101 to 6108 |
Legal Deadline:
None |
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Timetable:
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Regulatory Flexibility Analysis Required: No | Government Levels Affected: None |
Small Entities Affected: Businesses | Federalism: No |
Included in the Regulatory Plan: No | |
RIN Information URL: www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/11/tsramend.htm | |
Related RINs: Related to 3084-AA86 | |
Agency Contact: John A. Krebs Attorney Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Consumer Protection, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580 Phone:202 326-2692 Email: jkrebs@ftc.gov |