[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 220 (Thursday, November 18, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64491-64492]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-25104]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

ACTION: Notice and request for comment.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The FTC requests that the Office of Management and Budget 
(OMB) extend for three years the current Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) 
clearance for information collection requirements contained in the 
rules and regulations under the Pay-Per-Call Rule (Rule). That 
clearance expires on November 30, 2021.

DATES: Comments must be received by December 20, 2021.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. The 
reginfo.gov web link is a United States Government website produced by 
OMB and the General Services Administration (GSA). Under PRA 
requirements, OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) 
reviews Federal information collections.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: P. Connell McNulty, Attorney, Division 
of Marketing Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade 
Commission, Mail Code CC-5201, 600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, DC 
20580, (202) 326-2061.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title: Trade Regulation Rule Pursuant to the Telephone Disclosure 
and Dispute Resolution Act of 1992 (``Pay-Per-Call Rule''), 16 CFR part 
308.
    OMB Control Number: 3084-0102.
    Type of Review: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Abstract: The existing reporting and disclosure requirements of the 
Pay-Per-Call Rule are mandated by the Telephone Disclosure and Dispute 
Resolution Act of 1992 (TDDRA) to help prevent unfair and deceptive 
acts and practices in the advertising and operation of pay-per-call 
services and in the collection of charges for telephone-billed 
purchases. The information obtained by the Commission pursuant to the 
reporting requirement is used for law enforcement purposes. The 
disclosure requirements ensure that consumers are told about the costs 
of

[[Page 64492]]

using a pay-per-call service, that they will not be liable for 
unauthorized non-toll charges on their telephone bills, and how to deal 
with disputes about telephone-billed purchases.
    Likely Respondents: telecommunications common carriers (subject to 
the reporting requirement only, unless acting as a billing entity), 
information providers (vendors) offering one or more pay-per-call 
services or programs, and billing entities.
    Estimated Annual Hours Burden: 1,029,570 hours (18 + 1,029,552).
    Reporting: 18 hours for reporting by common carriers.
    Disclosure: 1,029,552 [(21,240 hours for advertising by vendors + 
21,732 hours for preamble disclosure which applies to every pay-per-
call service + 7,080 burden hours for telephone-billed charges in 
billing statements (applies to vendors; applies to common carriers if 
acting as billing entity) + 11,500 burden hours for dispute resolution 
procedures in billing statements (applies to billing entities) + 
968,000 hours for disclosures related to consumers reporting a billing 
error (applies to billing entities)].
    Estimated annual cost burden: $50,456,136 (solely relating to labor 
costs).\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

    \1\ Non-labor (e.g., capital/other start-up) costs are generally 
subsumed in activities otherwise undertaken in the ordinary course 
of business (e.g., business records from which only existing 
information must be reported to the Commission, pay-per-call 
advertisements or audiotext to which cost or other disclosures are 
added, etc.). To the extent that entities incur operating or 
maintenance expenses, or purchase outside services to satisfy the 
Rule's requirements, staff believe those expenses are also included 
in (or, if contracted out, would be comparable to) the annual burden 
hour and cost estimates provided below (where such costs are labor-
related), or are otherwise included in the ordinary cost of doing 
business (regarding non-labor costs).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Request for Comment

    On August 18, 2021, the FTC sought public comment on the 
information collection requirements associated with the Rule. 86 FR 
46254. The Commission received no germane comments. Pursuant to the OMB 
regulations, 5 CFR part 1320, that implement the PRA, 44 U.S.C. 3501 et 
seq., the FTC is providing this second opportunity for public comment 
while seeking OMB approval to renew the pre-existing clearance for the 
Rules.
    Your comment--including your name and your state--will be placed on 
the public record of this proceeding. Because your comment will be made 
public, you are solely responsible for making sure that your comment 
does not include any sensitive personal information, such as anyone's 
Social Security number; date of birth; driver's license number or other 
state identification number, or foreign country equivalent; passport 
number; financial account number; or credit or debit card number. You 
are also solely responsible for making sure that your comment does not 
include any sensitive health information, such as medical records or 
other individually identifiable health information. In addition, your 
comment should not include any ``trade secret or any commercial or 
financial information which . . . is privileged or confidential''--as 
provided by Section 6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 
4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 4.10(a)(2)--including in particular competitively 
sensitive information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, 
formulas, patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer 
names.

Josephine Liu,
Assistant General Counsel for Legal Counsel.
[FR Doc. 2021-25104 Filed 11-17-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P