State of Illinois
92nd General Assembly
Legislation

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92_HB0369

 
                                              LRB9202934RCcdA

 1        AN ACT concerning telephone solicitations.

 2        Be it enacted by the People of  the  State  of  Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section  5. The Telephone Solicitations Act is amended by
 5    adding Section 16 as follows:

 6        (815 ILCS 413/16 new)
 7        Sec. 16. Telephone solicitation;  establishment   of   no
 8    telephone solicitation sales calls Statewide registry.
 9        (a)  In this Section:
10        "Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission.
11        "Customer"  means any natural person who is a resident of
12    this State and  who  is  or may be required to pay for or  to
13    exchange consideration for goods and services offered through
14    telephone solicitation.
15        "Doing   business   in   this  State"  means   conducting
16    telephonic  sales calls:  (i) from a location in this  State;
17    or  (ii)  from  a location outside of this State to customers
18    residing in this State.
19        "Goods and services" means any goods  and  services,  and
20    shall  include   any  real  property or any tangible personal
21    property or services of any kind.
22        "Telephone solicitor" means any person who, for financial
23    profit or commercial purposes in  connection  with  telephone
24    solicitation,  makes  telephone solicitation sales calls to a
25    customer when the customer is in this State or any person who
26    directly controls or supervises the conduct of a  person  who
27    makes such telephone solicitation sales calls.
28        "Commercial purposes" means the sale or offer for sale of
29    goods or services.
30        "Telephone  solicitation  sales  call"  means a telephone
31    call made by a telephone solicitor  to  a  customer  for  the
 
                            -2-               LRB9202934RCcdA
 1    purpose  of  inducing  payment  or  the exchange of any other
 2    consideration for any goods or services.
 3        "Unsolicited telephone solicitation sales call" means any
 4    telephone solicitation sales call other than a call made:
 5             (i)  in response to an  express  written  or  verbal
 6        request of the customer called;
 7             (ii)  in   connection   with an established business
 8        relationship that  has  not  been  terminated  by  either
 9        party;
10             (iii)  to  an existing customer, unless the customer
11        has stated to  the telephone solicitor that the  customer
12        no  longer  wishes  to receive the telephone solicitation
13        sales calls of the telephone solicitor; or
14             (iv)  in which the sale of goods and services is not
15        completed, and payment or authorization of payment is not
16        required, until after a face-to-face  sales  presentation
17        by  the  telephone  solicitor  or  a  meeting between the
18        telephone solicitor and customer.
19        (b)  The Commission shall establish  and  maintain  a  no
20    telephone   solicitation   sales   calls  Statewide  registry
21    containing a list of customers who  do not  wish  to  receive
22    unsolicited   telephone   solicitation   sales   calls.   The
23    Commission  may  contract  with a private vendor to establish
24    and maintain the registry, provided the  private  vendor  has
25    maintained  national  no  telephone  solicitation sales calls
26    registries for more than 2 years and  the  contract  requires
27    the  vendor  to  provide  the no telephone solicitation sales
28    calls registry in a printed hard copy format and in any other
29    format as  prescribed by the Commission.
30        (c)  No telephone solicitor or seller may make  or  cause
31    to  be made any unsolicited telephone solicitation sales call
32    to any customer more than 30 days after the  customer's  name
33    and  telephone  number or numbers appear on  the then current
34    quarterly no telephone solicitation sales calls registry made
 
                            -3-               LRB9202934RCcdA
 1    available by the Commission  under  subsection  (b)  of  this
 2    Section.
 3        (d)  The  Commission shall provide notice to customers of
 4    the establishment of  the  no  telephone  solicitation  sales
 5    calls registry. Any customer who wishes to be included on the
 6    listing  shall  notify  the Commission by calling a toll-free
 7    number provided by the Commission, or in any other manner and
 8    at the times as  the  Commission  may  prescribe,  which  may
 9    include  notification  via  the  Internet.  A customer on the
10    registry  shall  be  deleted  from  the  registry  upon   the
11    customer's  written request.  The Commission shall update the
12    registry not less than quarterly and shall make the  registry
13    available to telephone solicitors for a fee as the Commission
14    prescribes.
15        (e)  Any    company   that   provides   local   telephone
16    directories to customers  in  this  State  shall  inform  its
17    customers  of  the  provisions  of  this  Section by means of
18    publishing a notice in the local telephone directories.
19        (f)  The Commission shall prescribe rules  to  administer
20    this Section.
21        (g)  If  it  is  determined after a hearing that a person
22    has violated one or more  provisions  of  this  Section,  the
23    Commission,   or any person designated by the Commission, may
24    assess a fine not to exceed $5,000 for each  violation.   Any
25    proceeding  conducted under this subsection (g) is subject to
26    the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act.  Nothing  in  this
27    subsection  (g) shall  be  construed  to  restrict  any right
28    that a  person  may have under any other statute or at common
29    law.
30        (h)  A person may not engage in the business of telephone
31    solicitation unless the telephone  solicitor  purchases  from
32    the  Commission  the  list  of  customers  who do not wish to
33    receive unsolicited telephone solicitation sales calls.
34        (i)  A person may not be held liable for  violating  this
 
                            -4-               LRB9202934RCcdA
 1    Section if:
 2             (1)  the  person has obtained a copy of, and updated
 3        quarterly, the no telephone  solicitation   sales   calls
 4        registry  and  has  established  and  implemented written
 5        policies and procedures related to  the  requirements  of
 6        this Section;
 7             (2)  the  person has trained his or her personnel in
 8        the requirements of this Section;
 9             (3)  the  person  maintains  records   demonstrating
10        compliance with paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection
11        (i) and the requirements of this Section; and
12             (4)  any     subsequent     unsolicited    telephone
13        solicitation sales call is the result of error.

14        Section 99. Effective date. This Act  takes  effect  upon
15    becoming law.

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