[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 160 (Monday, August 21, 2017)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 39533-39534]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-17437]
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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
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: This rule is effective October 1, 2017.
ADDRESSES: Copies of this document are 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., Room CC-9225,
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 $61 to $62 per area code, and increases the maximum amount
that will be charged to any single entity for accessing area codes of
data from $16,714 to $17,021. The fee per area code of data during the
second six months of an entity's annual subscription period increases
from $30 to $31.
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
[[Page 39534]]
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 an increase in the
fees for fiscal year 2017. Accordingly, we calculated the change in the
CPI since last year, and the increase was 1.84 percent. Because this
change is over the one percent threshold, the fees will change for
fiscal year 2018.
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, 2016 to June 30,
2017 was 242.656, an increase of 14.62 percent. Applying the 14.62
percent increase to the base amount from fiscal year 2009, leads to an
increase from $61 to $62 in the fee from last year for access to a
single area code of data for a full year for fiscal year 2018. The
actual amount is $61.89, but when rounded, pursuant to the Act, the
amount is $62. The fee for accessing an additional area code for a half
year increases from $30 to $31 (rounded from $30.95). The maximum
amount charged increases to $17,021 (rounded from $17,021.07).
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. In Sec. 310.8, revise paragraphs (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 $62 for each
area code of data accessed, up to a maximum of $17,021; 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. No person may participate in any arrangement to
share the cost of accessing the National Do Not Call 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 paragraph (c) of this section, each
person excepted under paragraph (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, each person required to pay the
fee under paragraph (c) of this section must first pay $62 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 paragraph (c)
of this section must first pay $31 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. 2017-17437 Filed 8-18-17; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P