Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC increases access fees for National Do Not Call Registry, (Sep 3, 2013)
The fees charged to telemarketers and other entities accessing the National Do Not Call Registry will increase slightly on October 1, 2013. The FTC issued a final rule on August 30, updating the access fees in the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) for fiscal year 2014 (from October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014).
The maximum fee for obtaining access will increase to $16,228 for all area codes nationwide from $15,962. Telemarketers will pay $59, an increase of $1, for access to registry phone numbers in a single area code. Telemarketers also will pay $1 more per area code for numbers they subscribe to receive during the second half of the 12-month subscription period, for a total of $30 per area code.
The increase in the fees is based on the increase in the consumer price index (CPI). Similar increases have taken effect over the last few years.
This final rule does not include any of the proposed amendments to the TSR announced in May 2013. At that time, the Commission issued a notice of proposed rulemaking, seeking public comment on rule changes that would, among other things, bar telemarketers from accepting remotely created checks, remotely created payment orders, cash-to-cash money transfers, and cash reload mechanisms as payment in inbound or outbound telemarketing transactions. The proposed amendments also would expand the scope of the advance fee ban on “recovery” services to include recovery of losses in any previous transaction (not just prior telemarketing transactions). Another change would clarify that telemarketers may not share the cost of registry access. The public comment period on these amendments has closed.
News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews