The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulates the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), which requires marketing entities to eliminate telephone numbers that are listed on the Do-Not-Call Registry (the Registry) from telemarketing campaigns.

Although many of us have listed both our residential and cell phone numbers on the Do-Not-Call list, we still get many, many telemarketing calls on our telephones, which are annoying and inconvenient.

This week, the FTC amended the TSR by updating the fees charged to entities that access the Registry from $62 to $63 for each area code, with the maximum amount to be charged an entity set at $17,406. The fee change goes into effect on October 1, 2018.

The fee is significant and clearly, many companies are not subscribing to the Registry and are not paying the fee, as we continue to get inundated with unwanted telemarketing calls. Nonetheless, registering may decrease the number of calls you receive. There are exceptions to being free from telemarketing calls–including charities, political groups, debt collectors and surveys.

Signing up for the Registry is free. You can register both your home and cell phone numbers. And you can report unwanted calls and the FTC has the authority to enforce violation of the Registry and hit violators with very large fines.

To sign up for the Registry, click here.

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