Washington – Many of those annoying prerecorded telemarketing calls will be history starting Sept. 1.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday that it is banning these “robocalls” to consumers, unless the telemarketer has written permission from a customer that he or she wants to receive these calls.
FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said American consumers have made it “crystal clear that few things annoy them more than the billions of commercial telemarketing robocalls they receive every year.”
Violaters will face penalties of up to $16,000 per call.
The ban is part of the amendments to the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule unveiled a year ago.
But there are exceptions. Calls that are not trying to sell goods and services to consumers will be exempt, such as those that provide information like flight cancellations and delivery notices and those from debt collectors.
Other calls not covered by the Telemarketing Sales Rule include those from politicians, charities that contact consumers directly, banks, insurers, phone companies, survey calls and certain health care messages such as prescription notifications. These don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the FTC, a commission spokesman said.
Before the ban, consumers had to specifically join a do-not-call list to avoid prerecorded telemarketing calls. But after Sept. 1, consumers shouldn’t get most of these calls anymore. If they do get one, they can file a complaint with the commission online through FTC.gov or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP.
Consumers already on the National Do Not Call Registry should not be getting live and prerecorded telemarketing calls. But now, all consumers are protected from getting most robocalls. That leaves telemarketers with the limited option of making a live call to someone not on the registry.
“If consumers think they’re being harassed by robocallers, they need to let us know, and we will go after them,” Leibowitz said.
What a blessing this will be. Its unbelieveable how many times the same schneurers will call over and over, even after you tell them NO!! Unfortunately, the new rules don’t extend to the charities that are even worse and won’t stop calling even after you tell them to take your name off the list. Obama has promised to extend the rules to include charitable solicitors so maybe that will be fixed soon too.
Sounds good, but there is so much intrution from the government, were the end.
Now if they can get rid of those fake schnoooreers who call using telephone numbers that you cannot call back….those bums are ripeoffs……..
I think that they shouldnt wait until September first…they should start TODAY….
Will it stop those Yiddish recorded robo calls to those of us that don’t know Yiddish?
so politicians are still exempt as well.
How’s about a requirement that any one using these robot callers must give out their home, business, and cellular numbers. And also that of their spouse, parents, and… mother in law.
That way we could call them back and let them know what we feel about them interrupting us…
Why do I never get these calls?
Is it perhaps because I am on the FTC Do Not Call list?
I sit because we do not start relationships with these firms by signing up for free stuff or contests?
As for the Schnorer calls;
I do not want to judge a schnorere but I hate calls where the caller is a paid caller with no knowlege of where the org is or what it does.
Years ago I got a call from Ais in monsey, I believe, and when I got suspicious it became clear the caller was DRUNK
Charities and debt collectors should be included.
Great new law …..except that a lot of thoe calls come from either Canada or off shore and even South and Central America…how will the FTC control them??
The new law won’t help couse it’s only for robo calls this snhorers are considerd live and direct telemarketers we’ll there not even that they are personal calls and therfore wiil never actuely be banad unless we ban each other from caling one another for any kind of anything and do you know where they actuly had such a law ? Let’s see who knows basic chumash on this site of poskim as we always see oh have you got it yet well il tell you but in the future think before you attack Torah personaletys now it was sedom and amorah thanks
The worst robocalls are from the politicians. I’ve stopped answering my phone during the two weeks prior to an election.