[ Search ] [ PDF text ] [ Legislation ]
[ Home ] [ Back ] [ Bottom ]
| [ Introduced ] | [ House Amendment 001 ] | [ House Amendment 002 ] |
| [ Senate Amendment 001 ] | [ Senate Amendment 002 ] | [ Senate Amendment 003 ] |
92_SB1309eng SB1309 Engrossed LRB9208209WHgc 1 AN ACT concerning telephone solicitation. 2 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, 3 represented in the General Assembly: 4 Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the No 5 Telemarketing Sales Calls Statewide Registry Act. 6 Section 5. Definitions. As used in this Act: 7 "Commission" means the Illinois Commerce Commission. 8 "Customer" means any natural person who is a resident of 9 this State and who is or may be required to pay for or to 10 exchange consideration for goods and services offered through 11 telemarketing. 12 "Doing business in this State" means conducting 13 telephonic sales calls: 14 (i) from a location in this State; or 15 (ii) from a location outside of this State to 16 customers residing in this State. 17 "Established business relationship" means the existence 18 of an oral or written arrangement, agreement, contract, or 19 other such legal state of affairs between a telemarketer and 20 an existing customer where both parties have a course of 21 conduct or established pattern of activity for commercial or 22 mercantile purposes and for the benefit or profit of both 23 parties. A pattern of activity does not necessarily mean 24 multiple previous contacts. The established business 25 relationship must exist between the existing customer and the 26 telemarketer directly, and does not extend to any related 27 business entity or other business organization of the 28 telemarketer or related to the telemarketer or the 29 telemarketer's agent including but not limited to a parent 30 corporation, subsidiary partnership, company or other 31 corporation or affiliate. SB1309 Engrossed -2- LRB9208209WHgc 1 "Existing customer" means an individual who has either: 2 (1) entered into a transaction, agreement, 3 contract, or other such legal state of affairs between a 4 telemarketer and a customer where the payment or exchange 5 of consideration for any goods or services has taken 6 place within the preceding 18 months, or has been 7 previously arranged to take place at a future time; or 8 (2) opened or maintained a credit card account or 9 other such revolving credit or debit account or discount 10 program offered by the telemarketer and has not requested 11 the telemarketer to close such account or terminate such 12 program. 13 "Goods and services" means any goods and services, and 14 includes any real property or any tangible personal property 15 or services of any kind. 16 "Person" means any natural person, corporation, business 17 trust, estate, trust, partnership, limited partnership, 18 limited liability partnership, limited liability company, 19 association, or other business entity and its affiliates or 20 subsidiaries. 21 "Telemarketer" means any person who, for financial profit 22 or commercial purposes in connection with telemarketing, 23 makes telemarketing sales calls to a customer when the 24 customer is in this State or any person who directly controls 25 or supervises the conduct of a telemarketer. As used in this 26 Act, "commercial purposes" means the sale or offer for sale 27 of goods or services. Telemarketer does not mean an entity 28 organized under Section 501 (c)(3) of the United States 29 Internal Revenue Code, while the entity is engaged in 30 fundraising to support the charitable purpose for which the 31 entity was established. 32 "Telemarketing" means any plan, program, or campaign that 33 is conducted to induce payment or the exchange of any other 34 consideration for any goods or services by use of one or more SB1309 Engrossed -3- LRB9208209WHgc 1 telephones and that involves more than one telephone call by 2 a telemarketer in which the customer is located within this 3 State at the time of the call. "Telemarketing" does not 4 include the solicitation of sales through any media other 5 than by telephone calls. 6 "Telemarketing sales call" means a telephone call made by 7 a telemarketer to a customer for the purpose of inducing 8 payment or the exchange of any other consideration for any 9 goods or services. 10 "Unsolicited telemarketing sales call" means any 11 telemarketing sales call other than a call made: 12 (i) in response to an express written or verbal 13 request of the customer called; or 14 (ii) in connection with an established business 15 relationship, which has not been terminated in writing by 16 either party and which is related to the nature of the 17 established business relationship; or 18 (iii) to an existing customer, unless the customer 19 has stated to the telemarketer that the customer no 20 longer wishes to receive the telemarketing sales calls of 21 the telemarketer or unless the nature of the call is 22 unrelated to the established business relationship with 23 the existing customer; or 24 (iv) by or on behalf of a person licensed by the 25 State of Illinois to carry out a trade, occupation or 26 profession in which the sale of goods or services is not 27 completed, and payment or authorization of payment is not 28 required, until after a face-to-face sales presentation 29 by the telemarketer or a meeting between the telemarketer 30 and customer. 31 Section 10. Registry; establishment and maintenance. The 32 Commission shall establish and maintain a no telemarketing 33 sales calls statewide registry which shall contain a list of 34 the telephone numbers of customers who do not wish to receive SB1309 Engrossed -4- LRB9208209WHgc 1 unsolicited telemarketing sales calls. The Commission may 2 contract with a private vendor to establish and maintain the 3 registry if: (i) the private vendor has maintained national 4 no telemarketing sales calls registries for more than 2 5 years; and (ii) the contract requires the vendor to provide 6 the no telemarketing sales calls registry in a printed hard 7 copy format, electronically, and in any other format 8 prescribed by the Commission. 9 Section 12. Complaints. The Commission shall receive 10 telephone solicitation complaints from customers who have 11 registered with the Commission to object to such calls. 12 Complaints shall be taken by any means deemed appropriate by 13 the Commission. Complaints against telemarketers that are 14 licensed, certificated, or permitted by a State or federal 15 agency shall be forwarded for investigation by the Commission 16 to the appropriate agency provided that the respective agency 17 has the power to investigate such matters. All other 18 complaints shall be investigated by the Commission. The 19 standards for such referrals and investigations shall be 20 determined by rules established by the Commission. 21 Section 15. Prohibited calls. Beginning January 1, 2002, 22 no telemarketer may make or cause to be made any unsolicited 23 telemarketing sales call to any customer more than 45 days 24 after the customer's telephone number or numbers first appear 25 on the no telemarketing sales calls statewide registry made 26 available by the Commission under this Act. 27 Section 20. Registry; inclusion; removal; updates. 28 (a) The Commission shall provide notice to customers of 29 the establishment of the no telemarketing sales calls 30 statewide registry. Any customer who wishes to be included in 31 the registry shall notify the Commission by calling a SB1309 Engrossed -5- LRB9208209WHgc 1 toll-free number provided by the Commission, or in any other 2 manner and at times prescribed by the Commission which may 3 include notification via the Internet. A customer in the 4 registry shall be deleted from the registry upon the 5 customer's written request. The Commission shall update the 6 registry not less than quarterly and shall make the registry 7 available to telemarketers in a printed hard copy format, 8 electronically, and in any other format prescribed by the 9 Commission for a fee as the Commission shall prescribe 10 pursuant to subsection (b). 11 (b) The fee for telemarketers obtaining the registry 12 shall be determined by rules established by the Commission, 13 not to exceed $200 annually. All copies requested in paper 14 form shall be assessed a per page fee to be determined by 15 rules established by the Commission. 16 (c) If the Federal Communications Commission or Federal 17 Trade Commission establishes a single national database of 18 telephone numbers of subscribers who object to receiving 19 telephone solicitations under Title 47 U.S.C., Section 20 227(c)(3), Illinois shall discontinue the database 21 established under this Act. 22 (d) Information contained in the registry established 23 under this Section shall be confidential and afforded 24 reasonable privacy protection except as necessary for the 25 purpose of compliance with Sections 15 and 22 and this 26 Section or in a proceeding or action under Section 30. The 27 information is not a public record under the Freedom of 28 Information Act. 29 Section 22. Enrollment. 30 (a) There shall be no cost to the customer for joining 31 the registry. 32 (b) Enrollment in the registry shall be effective from 33 the start of the quarter following the date of enrollment for SB1309 Engrossed -6- LRB9208209WHgc 1 a term of 5 years or until the customer disconnects or 2 changes his or her telephone number, whichever occurs first. 3 The customer shall be responsible for notifying the 4 Commission of any changes in his or her telephone number. The 5 Commission shall use its best efforts to notify enrolled 6 customers prior to the end of the 5-year enrollment term of 7 the option to re-enroll. Those customers who do not 8 re-enroll prior to the end of the 5-year term shall be 9 removed from the registry. 10 Section 23. Public Notification. The Commission shall 11 work with local exchange telecommunications companies to 12 disseminate to their customers information about the 13 availability of and instructions about how to request 14 educational literature from the Commission. The Commission 15 may enter into agreements with those companies for the 16 purpose of dissemination of the educational literature. 17 Telecommunications companies shall be required to disseminate 18 the respective literature at least once per year in the form 19 of both a bill message and a notice in the information 20 section of all telephone directories circulated to customers. 21 The Commission shall include on its Internet web site 22 information that informs customers of their rights to be 23 placed on the registry and the various methods, including 24 notice to the Commission, of placing their names on this 25 registry. The Commission shall have this literature developed 26 for dissemination to the public no later than October 1, 27 2001. 28 Section 25. Rules. The Commission shall adopt rules to 29 administer this Act consistent with the provisions of this 30 Act. 31 Section 30. Violations; relief. SB1309 Engrossed -7- LRB9208209WHgc 1 (a) If it is determined after a hearing that a 2 telemarkerter has violated one or more provisions of this 3 Act, the Commission may assess a penalty not to exceed 4 $2,500 for each violation. 5 (b) A proceeding conducted under subsection (a) is 6 subject to the Illinois Administrative Procedure Act. 7 (c) Nothing in this Section may be construed to restrict 8 any right which any person may have under any other law or at 9 common law. 10 (d) No action or proceeding may be brought under this 11 Section: 12 (1) More than one year after the person bringing 13 the action knew or should have known of the occurrence of 14 the alleged violation; or 15 (2) More than one year after the termination of any 16 proceeding or action arising out of the same violation or 17 violations by the State of Illinois, whichever is later. 18 (e) The remedies, duties, prohibition, and penalties of 19 this Act are not exclusive and are in addition to all other 20 causes of action, remedies, and penalties provided by law. 21 (f) There is created in the State treasury a special 22 fund to be known as the No Telemarketing Sales Calls 23 Statewide Registry Fund. All fees and fines collected in the 24 administration and enforcement of this Act shall be deposited 25 into the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall, subject to 26 appropriation, be used by the Commission for implementation, 27 administration, and enforcement of this Act. 28 Section 35. Exemption. A telemarketer may not be held 29 liable for violating this Act if: 30 (a) the telemarketer has obtained copies of the no 31 telemarketing sales calls statewide registry and each updated 32 registry and has established and implemented written policies 33 and procedures related to the requirements of this Act; SB1309 Engrossed -8- LRB9208209WHgc 1 (b) the telemarketer has trained his or her personnel in 2 the requirements of this Act; 3 (c) the telemarketer maintains records demonstrating 4 compliance with subsections (a) and (b) of this Section and 5 the requirements of this Act; and 6 (d) any subsequent unsolicited telemarketing sales call 7 is the result of error. 8 Section 105. The State Finance Act is amended by adding 9 Section 5.545 as follows: 10 (30 ILCS 105/5.545 new) 11 Sec. 5.545. No Telemarketing Sales Calls Statewide 12 Registry Fund.