§6152 Telemarketing Sales Rule; do-not-call registry fees

Summary

The Federal Trade Commission must collect an annual fee to run and enforce the national do-not-call registry. Anyone who accesses the registry must pay the smaller of $54 for each area code they use or $14,850 for access to every area code. The first 5 area codes a person accesses are free. People who are allowed but not required to use the registry under federal rules do not have to pay. When someone pays, they can use the area codes they paid for for a 12-month period starting the first day of the month they paid. If a person wants more area codes during their 12-month period, they must pay extra: $54 per extra area code if added in the first 6 months, or $27 if added after the first 6 months. The dollar amounts listed apply to fiscal year 2009. For later years, the amounts can rise based on the change in the Consumer Price Index compared to the CPI for the 12 months ending June 30, 2008, but only if that change is 1 percent or more; increases are rounded to the nearest dollar and posted by September 1 each year. No one may share or split these fees among clients. Collected fees go into the FTC’s Salaries and Expenses account and can only be taken if Congress has approved them.