Insights

Effective October 1, 2011, the Federal Trade Commission will increase the fees sellers and telemarketers must pay to access the national do-not-call registry. The FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule generally requires sellers and telemarketers to access the do-not-call registry to ensure that they do not call individuals whose telephone numbers are on the registry.

Under the new structure, entities will pay $56 per area code of data accessed for a full year and $28 per area code of data accessed for six months. This represents a $1 increase from the current fee structure. Entities that access 280 or more area codes of data will pay a maximum of $15,503.

The Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 2007 mandates these increases, and the calculation is tied to changes in the Department of Labor’s monthly consumer price index. Entities can still access up to five area codes of data for free, and the FTC imposes no registry access fees on entities that choose to honor the registry even though the TSR does not require them to do so.