JUST THE FACTS

It Doesn't Have to Be This Way

We’ve all been caught off guard. We answer the phone not knowing who’s calling, only to be irritated and disturbed once again by a telemarketer.

The law is on your side. It takes less than five minutes to register your phone numbers on the national Do-Not-Call Registry. It’s free. You can register residential and cell numbers.  The list is nationwide and applies to all telemarketers, with the exception of some non-profit organizations. It also covers both interstate and intrastate telemarketing calls.

Commercial telemarketers are prohibited from calling any number on the registry.
There is some confusion about whether you need to re-register after five years or not.

Register Free for the National Do-Not-Call List
•    Internet at www.donotcall.gov
•    Telephone at call 1-888-382-1222, for TTY call 1-866-290-4236.  You must call from the phone number you wish to register.

Did you know?
•    The national Do-Not-Call list protects home or personal wireless phone numbers only.
•    Telemarketers and sellers are required to search the registry at least once every 31 days and drop from their call lists the phone numbers of consumers who have registered.
•    Telemarketers are required to transmit Caller ID information and may not block their numbers. The display must include a phone number that you can call during regular business hours to ask that the company no longer call you, even if you have an established business relationship with the company, and even if you have not registered your numbers on the national Do-Not-Call list.
•    Telephone solicitation calls to your home before 8 am or after 9 pm are prohibited.
•    Anyone making a telephone solicitation call to your home must provide a name, or the name of the entity on whose behalf the call is being made, as well as a telephone number or address at which you may contact that entity.

When you receive telephone solicitation calls, clearly state that you want to be added to the caller’s Do-Not-Call list. You may want to keep a list of those persons or businesses that you have asked not to call you. Tax-exempt non-profit organizations are not required to keep Do-Not-Call lists.

Even if you are not registered on the Do-Not-Call list, the government requires a person or business placing voice telephone solicitations to your home to maintain a record of your direct request to that particular caller not to receive future telephone solicitations.

But save yourself time and aggravation. Register on the national list. Unless your phone numbers are registered on the national Do-Not-Call list, you must make a separate Do-Not-Call request to each telemarketer from whom you do not wish to receive calls.

The national Do-Not-Call registry does not cover the following calls:
•    from organizations with which you have established a business relationship, unless you specifically ask them not to call you
•    for which you have given prior written permission
•    which are not commercial
•    by or on behalf of tax-exempt non-profit organizations

See If Your State has a Do-Not-Call List
For contact information for your state public service commission, go to  www.naruc.org/commissions.cfm. You can also find contact information for these offices in the blue pages or government section of your local telephone directory.

File a Complaint
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) can issue warning citations and impose fines against companies violating the Do-Not-Call rules, but does not award individual damages. If you receive a telephone solicitation that you think violates any of these rules, you can file a complaint with the FCC. There is no charge for filing a complaint.

To file a complaint:
•    Online, esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm.
•    E-mail, fccinfo@fcc.gov.
•    Telephone, 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322), or 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322) TTY
•    Fax, 1-866-418-0232
•    In writing
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Inquiries & Complaints Division
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554

For more FCC Consumer Facts, go to http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/consumerfacts/tcpa.html