TheDenverChannel.com








Denver News
Share
E-Mail News Alerts
Get breaking news and daily headlines.
Browse all e-mail newsletters

No-Call List Gets Boost From Colorado PUC

Regulators Agree To Launch List And Use 240,000 Names Already Collected

POSTED: 6:45 a.m. MST October 30, 2001
UPDATED: 2:28 p.m. MST November 26, 2001

State regulators have agreed to launch a no-call list for telemarketers with the names of 240,000 residents gathered independently by a bipartisan think tank.

The Public Utilities Commission also expanded complaint requirements to include a toll-free phone number after lobbyists for the elderly complained Internet Web site enrollment in the program is impossible for many people.

The law will allow residential telephone customers to sign up on the list that notifies solicitors they do not want any more calls by phone or fax. Solicitors who make three or more calls a month to a number on the list could face fines up to $2,000 per violation.

Under the law, telemarketers will have to buy the list for up to $500. Telemarketers with five employees or less would get it for free, and charities are exempt from the law.

The written rules based on Monday's decisions are expected Nov. 2 and the list will go into effect July 1.

The Bighorn Center for Public Policy began allowing people to register for a no-call list on its Web site before it was approved by lawmakers. Its staff has collected 240,000 signatures.

Commissioner Polly Page said legislators did not make it clear whether the commission should use the Bighorn list or start anew. She said she preferred doing it "without incurring the wrath of a quarter-million people."

The commission ordered an agency hired to do the registration to verify those on the list still want to exclude telemarketers.

The commission tentatively has chosen e-infodata.com of Boulder to handle the registration. The three-year contract, which still must be approved, is for $126,500.

The commission also decided it has no power to extend the rules to cover cell phones, because the law is limited to residential customers.

The registration agency will collect complaints and turn them over to the state attorney general for prosecution.

The Colorado no-call law allows state residents to sign up for free for a list that all telemarketers are required to buy. If consumers on the list are still called, they can complain to the administrator of the list, and multiple complaints could result in fines through the attorney general's office. Nonprofit and political groups are still allowed to make calls to all residents, as can companies that can claim a business relationship.

Additional Resources:

E - News Registration
 7 a.m. News
9 a.m. News
Noon News
4 p.m. News
8 p.m. News
Breaking News Alerts
My Report Network
National Breaking News

Advertiser Links


Win $250 shopping spree to Cherry Creek North! Like Us On Facebook! Winner announced Monday on 7NEWS at 10 p.m.

Advertiser Links