[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 167 (Monday, August 29, 2011)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 53636-53638]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-21992]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 310

RIN 3084-AA98


Telemarketing Sales Rule Fees

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (the Commission or ``FTC'' is 
amending its Telemarketing Sales Rule (``TSR'') by updating the fees

[[Page 53637]]

charged to entities accessing the National Do Not Call Registry (the 
Registry as required by the Do-Not-Call Registry Fee Extension Act of 
2007.

DATES: Effective Date: The revised fees will become effective October 
1, 2011.

ADDRESSES: Requests for copies of this document should be sent to: 
Public Reference Branch, Federal Trade Commission, Room 130, 600 
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. Copies of this document 
are also available on the Internet at the Commission's Web site: http://www.ftc.gov.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ami Joy Dziekan, (202) 326-2648, BCP, 
Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Rm. H-246, 
Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: To comply with the Do-Not-Call Registry Fee 
Extension Act of 2007 (Pub. L. 110-188, 122 Stat. 635) (Act), the 
Commission is amending the TSR by updating the fees entities are 
charged for accessing the Registry as follows: The revised rule 
increases the annual fee for access to the Registry for each area code 
of data from $55 to $56 per area code; increases the fee per area code 
of data during the second six months of an entity's annual subscription 
period from $27 to $28; and increases the maximum amount that will be 
charged to any single entity for accessing area codes of data from 
$15,058 to $15,503.
    These increases are in accordance with the Act, which specifies 
that beginning after fiscal year 2009, the dollar amounts charged shall 
be increased by an amount equal to the amounts specified in the Act, 
multiplied by the percentage (if any) by which the average of the 
monthly consumer price index (for all urban consumers published by the 
Department of Labor) (``CPI'') for the most recently ended 12-month 
period ending on June 30 exceeds the CPI for the 12-month period ending 
June 30, 2008. The Act also states that any increase shall be rounded 
to the nearest dollar and that there shall be no increase in the dollar 
amounts if the change in the CPI is less than one percent. For fiscal 
year 2009, the Act specified that the original annual fee for access to 
the Registry for each area code of data was $54 per area code, or $27 
per area code of data during the second six months of an entity's 
annual subscription period, and that the maximum amount that would be 
charged to any single entity for accessing area codes of data would be 
$14,850.
    The determination whether a fee change is required and the amount 
of the fee change involves a two step process. First, to determine 
whether a fee change is required, we measure the change in the CPI from 
the time of the previous increase in fees. There was no change in the 
fees for fiscal year 2011 because last year, there was an increase in 
the CPI of 0.97 percent, which was under the one percent CPI change 
specified in the statute. Accordingly, we calculated the change in the 
CPI since we last changed the fee in fiscal year 2009, and the change 
was 3.00 percent. Because this change is over the 1 percent threshold, 
the fees will change for fiscal year 2012.
    Second, to determine how much the fees should increase this fiscal 
year, we use the calculation specified by the Act set forth above, the 
percentage change in the baseline CPI applied to the original fees for 
fiscal year 2009. The average value of the CPI for July 1, 2007 to June 
30, 2008 was 211.702; the average value for July 1, 2010 to June 30, 
2011 was 221.087, an increase of 4.4 percent. Applying the 4.4 percent 
increase to the base amount from fiscal year 2009, leads to an increase 
from $55 to $56 in the fee from last year for access to a single area 
code of data for a full year for fiscal year 2012. The actual amount is 
$56.38, but when rounded, pursuant to the Act, the amount is $56. The 
fee for accessing an additional area code for a half year increases to 
$28.19 (rounded to $28). The maximum amount charged increases to 
$15,503.40 (rounded to $15,503).

Administrative Procedure Act; Regulatory Flexibility Act; Paperwork 
Reduction Act

    The revisions to the Fee Rule are technical in nature and merely 
incorporate statutory changes to the TSR. These statutory changes have 
been adopted without change or interpretation, making public comment 
unnecessary. Therefore, the Commission has determined that the notice 
and comment requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act do not 
apply. See 5 U.S.C. 553(b). For this reason, the requirements of the 
Regulatory Flexibility Act also do not apply. See 5 U.S.C. 603, 604.
    Pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act, 44 U.S.C. 3501-3521, the 
Office of Management and Budget (``OMB'') approved the information 
collection requirements in the Amended TSR and assigned the following 
existing OMB Control Number: 3084-0097. The amendments outlined in this 
Final Rule pertain only to the fee provision (Sec.  310.8) of the 
Amended TSR and will not establish or alter any record keeping, 
reporting, or third-party disclosure requirements elsewhere in the 
Amended TSR.

List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 310

    Advertising, Consumer protection, Reporting and recordkeeping 
requirements, Telephone, Trade practices.

    Accordingly, the Federal Trade Commission amends part 310 of title 
16 of the Code of Federal Regulations as follows:

PART 310--TELEMARKETING SALES RULE

0
1. The authority citation for part 310 continues to read as follows:

    Authority:  15 U.S.C. 6101-6108; 15 U.S.C. 6151-6155.

0
2. Revise Sec. Sec.  310.8(c) and (d) to read as follows:


Sec.  310.8  Fee for access to the National Do Not Call Registry.

* * * * *
    (c) The annual fee, which must be paid by any person prior to 
obtaining access to the National Do Not Call Registry, is $56 for each 
area code of data accessed, up to a maximum of $15,503; provided, 
however, that there shall be no charge to any person for accessing the 
first five area codes of data, and provided further, that there shall 
be no charge to any person engaging in or causing others to engage in 
outbound telephone calls to consumers and who is accessing area codes 
of data in the National Do Not Call Registry if the person is permitted 
to access, but is not required to access, the National Do Not Call 
Registry under this Rule, 47 CFR 64.1200, or any other Federal 
regulation or law. Any person accessing the National Do Not Call 
Registry may not participate in any arrangement to share the cost of 
accessing the registry, including any arrangement with any telemarketer 
or service provider to divide the costs to access the registry among 
various clients of that telemarketer or service provider.
    (d) Each person who pays, either directly or through another 
person, the annual fee set forth in Sec.  310.8(c), each person 
excepted under Sec.  310.8(c) from paying the annual fee, and each 
person excepted from paying an annual fee under Sec.  
310.4(b)(1)(iii)(B), will be provided a unique account number that will 
allow that person to access the registry data for the selected area 
codes at any time for the twelve month period beginning on the first 
day of the month in which the person paid the fee (``the annual 
period''). To obtain access to additional area codes of data during the 
first six months of the annual period,

[[Page 53638]]

each person required to pay the fee under Sec.  310.8(c) must first pay 
$56 for each additional area code of data not initially selected. To 
obtain access to additional area codes of data during the second six 
months of the annual period, each person required to pay the fee under 
Sec.  310.8(c) must first pay $28 for each additional area code of data 
not initially selected. The payment of the additional fee will permit 
the person to access the additional area codes of data for the 
remainder of the annual period.
* * * * *

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2011-21992 Filed 8-26-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P