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> Nation’s Consumer Utility Advocates Recommend Changes to FCC’s
Proposed Telemarketing Rules
Nation’s Consumer Utility Advocates Recommend Changes
to FCC’s Proposed Telemarketing Rules
SILVER SPRING, MD, December 9, 2002 - The federal
government should adopt telemarketing rules that would implement
a consumer-friendly do-not-call list, restrict telemarketers’ use
of automated calling systems, outlaw telemarketers from blocking
Caller ID and prohibit telemarketing calls to cellular numbers,
the National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates (NASUCA)
said today in comments filed with the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC).
“Residential consumers deserve to have their right to privacy protected
and to be free from annoying and bothersome telephone calls,” said
NASUCA President and Ohio Consumers’ Counsel Robert S. Tongren.
“NASUCA’s recommendations will provide consumers with considerable
benefits and privacy protection against unwanted telemarketers.”
Currently there is no single, free method for consumers to demand
that telemarketers not contact them. Consumers must request to be
placed on do-not-call lists maintained by several public and private
organizations to keep unwanted telemarketers away. Some states offer
a do-not-call list, but the process differs widely from state to
state. Lists may exempt certain types of businesses, including banks
and credit card companies, and some charge a fee for consumers to
be added. The Direct Marketing Association also offers a do-not-call
registry, but it is distributed only to telemarketers within its
membership.
“There seems to be no end to the unwanted telemarketing calls received
by families across the country,” said NASUCA Executive Director
Charles Acquard. “A consumer-friendly national do-not-call list
would go a long way toward giving consumers the resources they need
to take back control of their telephone line.”
The FCC has authority over all telemarketers, so a national registry
would increase federal enforcement of those companies that continue
to call consumers on the list. In a separate proceeding, the Federal
Trade Commission (FTC) is also considering a national do-not-call
registry. NASUCA filed recommendations regarding the FTC’s proposed
telemarketing rules in April 2002.
NASUCA’s recommendations call for several key enhancements to the
proposed rules, including:
- Establishing a comprehensive, consumer-friendly national do-not-call
registry, which provides consumers multiple methods - including
telephone, Internet and mail - for registering their telephone numbers
free of charge. NASUCA urges the FCC and FTC to work cooperatively
to develop a single system.
- Prohibiting telemarketers from having
the ability to block their company name and telephone number from
appearing on consumers’ Caller ID devices.
- Requiring telemarketers
who use automated calling systems known as “predictive dialers”
to reduce the number of abandoned calls that consumers receive to
zero. Predictive dialers randomly call multiple numbers simultaneously.
Those calls that cannot be answered by a telemarketer are disconnected,
leaving many consumers with dead air when they pick up the telephone.
- Prohibiting telemarketing calls to cellular telephone numbers
unless authorized by the consumer.
- Ensuring that a national do-not-call registry supplements existing
state laws that offer residents greater protection against telemarketers.
NASUCA’s recommendations can be viewed at www.nasuca.org.
National Association of State Utility Consumer Advocates
8380 Colesville Road, Suite 101, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Phone: (301) 589-6313 Fax: 589-6380
e-mail: nasuca@nasuca.org |