[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