Phone Numbers on National “Do Not Call” Registry to Stay There Permanently

Phone Numbers on National “Do Not Call” Registry to Stay There Permanently

Automobile dealers and other businesses will continue to be prohibited from contacting phone numbers listed on the national “Do Not Call” registry more than five years ago, but will continue to have free access to “local” registry data. Congress and the President have enacted legislation that removes the five-year limit on the time that phone numbers will be listed on the national “Do Not Call” registry. This means that consumers who have placed phone numbers on the registry since it took effect in 2003 do not need to re-enter them five years later to avoid receiving unwanted solicitations, says Bradley Miller of NADA Legal and Regulatory Affairs.

The legislation has no effect on dealers’ ability to call consumers with whom they have an “established business relationship” defined as spanning eighteen months for transactions or three months for applications or inquiries, says Miller. It also does not affect customers who have given dealers signed written permission to call them at a designated phone number. Customers still may terminate an established business relationship or prior express permission by requesting that the dealership no longer call them.

Congress and the President also have enacted legislation that sets a permanent schedule for collecting fees from sellers and telemarketers who access the “Do Not Call” registry. The legislation maintains the current fee exemption that allows dealers and others to access up to five area codes of registry data without charge.