September 15, 2009

 

 

Increase in Fines for Violators of “No Call” Law Passes Senate

                                         

Madison – Senator Jon Erpenbach, author of Wisconsin’s popular “Do Not Call” Law, is pleased an increase in penalties and fines for breaking the law passed the Senate today.

“Wisconsin’s citizens want the “Do Not Call” law and they sign up for it by the millions; yet the number one consumer complaint every year is violations of the law. We need to increase the fines for breaking the law so that bad telemarketers that break the law do not continue to make breaking our laws a cost of doing business,” said Erpenbach.

Implemented in 2003, the Wisconsin “Do Not Call” Law was one of the first in the nation. Consumers must sign up every two years to keep the list current and cell phones were allowed to be added to the list after action last year. The fines proposed in Senate Bill 218 which passed the Senate today would be a minimum of $1,000 and a maximum of $10,000 per violation.

“The Department has always done a great job of making sure that telemarketers always get warnings when they first violate the law and clear instruction on how to follow the law. There is no telemarketer in the world that is unaware that some states regulate their action – this bill will simply make the bad actors pay for breaking the law,” Erpenbach said.

Wisconsin’s “Do Not Call” law is regulated by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection. Currently there are 1, 959,859 numbers on the Wisconsin “Do Not Call” list.

Consumers can sign up for the list 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year:

• By visiting the Wisconsin No Call List website and clicking here.
• By calling 1-866-9NO-CALL (1-866-966-2255) toll-free in Wisconsin.