Publication of final rule revising fees to access National Do Not Call Registry

The Commission has issued its final rule revising the fees charged to entities accessing the National Do Not Call Registry. The rule, which will become effective September 1, 2005, amends section 310.8 of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR). On April 18, 2005, the Commission published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, and accepted comments until June 1, 2005. The Commission’s final rule revises the fee structure so that entities will be required to pay $56 per area code, or $15,400 for any entity accessing 280 area codes or more. Entities will still be able to obtain the first five area codes of data at no cost, and “exempt” entities may still access the Registry for free.

Telemarketers are required to renew their subscriptions to the Do Not Call Registry once a year, and must remove registered numbers from their call lists once every 31 days. The Do Not Call Web site for telemarketers – http://www.telemarketing.donotcall.gov – will inform them when their subscription account numbers (SANs) expire and give them renewal instructions. Subscriptions can be renewed up to 30 days before a subscription has expired. Subscriptions also will be renewable after they expire. The new 12-month subscription period will run from the first day of the month in which an organization renews, regardless of whether it renews before or after its current subscription ends. To date, consumers have registered approximately 98 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.

The Commission vote to issue the final rule was 4-0. (FTC File No. P034305; the staff contact is David B. Robbins, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3747.).

Copies of the Final Fee Rule can be requested from: Public Reference Branch, Federal Trade Commission, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. The public record for this proceeding is also available on the Internet: http://www.ftc/gov/bcp/rulemaking/tsr/tsrrulemaking/index.htm.