The Federal Trade Commission approved the proposed increase in access fees for the national do-not-call registry in a 5-0 vote.
The FTC announcement came July 28, when it approved publication of a Federal Register notice amending the Telemarketing Sales Rule to revise the fees charged for industry access to the registry. The notice appeared July 31.
Starting Sept. 1, the annual fee for each area code accessed will be $62, up from $56, and the maximum charged to entities accessing 280 area codes or more will be $17,050. The first five area codes still are free, and exempt entities still can access the registry at no charge.
The FTC said the increase was needed to offset the costs of activities related to enforcement of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The DNC registry was launched in June 2003. The commission said it received 12 public comments on the proposed fee changes, which were announced in April.
Telemarketers are required to renew their subscriptions to the national registry yearly and “scrub” their call lists once every 31 days. To date, consumers have registered 128.6 million telephone numbers. The registry accepts home land line and personal cell phone numbers at www.donotcall.gov or 888/382-1222.
