The telemarketers had to lose. And they did

The relief of telemarketers, as it turns, out was extremely short-lived. Both the US Congress and the Senate have passed near unanimous resolutions to allow the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to go ahead with implementation of the national Do Not Call (DNC) registry, as planned earlier and have sent the proposal to president Bush for final approval. The White House, which has made its position clear earlier about supporting the implementation, is likely to quickly approve it. This has removed all confusions that had arisen after a district court at Oklahoma had ruled against implementation of the DNC, questioning the FTC’s right to impose such a rule, just a couple of days earlier. The congressional move was extremely swift.

“I always have believed that the FTC had clear authority to establish the National Do Not Call Registry, and I applaud the Congress for acting so quickly to ensure that American consumers have the choice to stop unwanted telemarketing calls,” said FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris, in an official statement. 

The Direct Marketing Association, which had challenged the FTC decision, that prompted the Oklahoma court to pass the pro-telemarketing judgment, has said that it is “asking its members and the entire telemarketing industry to respect the wishes of consumers who have registered for the Federal Trade Commission"s National Do Not Call Registry.”

The reaction of Indian companies have been on similar lines. 

“I am a big believer of letting consumer choose how they would like to be sold to. It is not just a question of privacy. In the long run, this law will take out fraudulent operators out of the business and let legitimate brands continue their relationships over the phone in a more responsible manner,” said P V Kannan, CEO of 24/7 Customer. The company has a sizeable business in telesales that it does for a long distance telecom company. 

“I think this (the large number of people who have listed their numbers in the national DNC list) looks more impulsive as most of these people will continue to have the need for buying over the phone mainly because of their lifestyles,” said Atul Jain, managing director of Cybersys Infotech, which also runs some telemarketing campaigns.