New York Gov. Kathy Hochul yesterday signed a bill into law that will stiffen the penalty for companies that call individuals whose names appear on the national Do Not Call registry.
A copy of the legislation — A4456/S4617 — can be accessed by clicking here.
The law generally applies to telemarketing sales calls, which are defined as any plan, program or campaign that is conducted to induce payment or the exchange of any other consideration for any goods or services that involves more than one telephone call or electronic messaging text by a telemarketer in which the customer is located within the state at the time of the call. Telemarketing does not include the solicitation of sales through media other than by telephone calls or electronic messaging texts and does not include calls or electronic messaging texts intended to implement or complete a transaction to which the customer has previously consented.
The law raises the penalty for violators of the Do Not Call registry to $20,000 from $11,000, which was set in 2004. The legislation passed both house of the New York legislature nearly unanimously — only one vote was cast against the bills.
“Every day, hard-working New Yorkers are forced to field call after call from relentless telemarketers,” Governor Hochul said in a statement. “Today, we’re raising the penalty for violators of the Do Not Call Registry to deter telemarketers, protect New Yorkers, and send a clear message that New York won’t tolerate these frustrating, unsolicited calls.”
This law is intended to build on another one that Gov. Hochul signed back in December that cracked down on unwanted calls by requiring telemarketers to offer customers the option of joining a do-not-call list at the start of every call.
