Senate Bill No. 115

(By Senators Hunter, Bowman, Unger, Prezioso, Rowe and Facemyer)

____________

[Introduced January 10, 2003; referred to the Committee on the Judiciary; and then to the Committee on Finance.]

____________
A BILL to amend and reenact section six hundred one, article six-f, chapter forty-six-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said article by adding thereto a new section, designated section six hundred two, all relating to telemarketing; providing for a do-not-call list; and including calling a number on the do-not-call list as an abusive telemarketing act or practice.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section six hundred one, article six-f, chapter forty-six-a of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section six hundred two, all to read as follows:
ARTICLE 6F. TELEMARKETING.
PART VI. ABUSIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES; DO-NOT-CALL LIST.

§46A-6F-601. Abusive acts or practices.
(a) It is an abusive telemarketing act or practice and a violation of this article for any telemarketer to engage in the following conduct:
(1) Threaten, intimidate or use profane or obscene language;
(2) Engage any person repeatedly or continuously with behavior a reasonable person would deem consider to be annoying, abusive or harassing;
(3) Initiate an outbound telephone call to a person when that person previously has stated that he or she does not wish to receive an outbound telephone call made by or on behalf of the telemarketer whose goods or services are being offered;
(4) Engage in telemarketing to a person's residence at any time other than between eight a.m. and nine p.m. local time, Monday through Sunday, at the called person's location; or
(5) Engage in any other conduct which would be considered abusive to any reasonable consumer; or
(6) Initiate an outbound telephone call to any residential, mobile, or telephonic paging device telephone number if the number for that telephone or device appears in the then-current quarterly listing published by the division.
(b) A telemarketer will is not be liable for violating subdivision (3), subsection (a) of this section if:
(1) It has established and implemented written procedures to avoid outbound telephone calls to persons who have previously stated that they do not wish to receive such calls;
(2) It has trained its personnel in the procedures established pursuant to subdivision (1) of this subsection;
(3) The telemarketer has maintained and recorded lists of persons who have previously stated that they do not wish to receive such calls; and
(4) Any subsequent call is the result of error.
§46A-6F-602. Do-not-call list.
(a) The division shall maintain a do-not-call list. A residential, mobile or telephonic paging device telephone subscriber desiring to be placed on the state do-not-call list indicating that the subscriber does not wish to receive unsolicited telephonic sales calls may notify the division and shall be placed on the list by the division.
(b) The division shall update its do-not-call list quarterly. The division shall provide the list for a fee of two hundred dollars to telemarketers upon request. All fees collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a special fund in the state treasury designated the do-not-call list fund, which is hereby created. The fund may only be used for the administration of this section.
(c) Any telemarketer or other person who offers for sale any consumer information which includes residential, mobile or telephonic paging device telephone numbers, except directory assistance and telephone directories sold by telephone companies shall screen and exclude those numbers which appear on the division's then-current do-not-call list.




NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to provide for a state do-not-call list by which individuals may indicate that they do not wish to receive unsolicited telephonic sales calls. The bill also includes calling a number on the do-not-call list as an abusive telemarketing act or practice.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.

§46A-6F-602 is new; therefore, strike-throughs and underscoring have been omitted.