The Federal Trade Commission has amended the telemarketing laws in USA. According to the new laws, a call center offering debt recovery facilities and debt consolidation services cannot charge from people unless they actually provide the services. The FTC amended the telemarketing services law in a sort of knee-jerk reaction after several call centers were found to be duping the citizens in fraudulent call center services. They were getting the users to pay up to initiate services and then disappeared off the face of earth. The FTC feels that such practices burn a deeper hole in the already burnt pockets of the debt-ridden. The law applies for all firms that are registered as ‘for profit’ organizations.
The rules are a little relaxed for the non-profit ones. However, the FTC has put in stringent rules for call center units to pass off as non-profits. There are some call centers out there that are not registered as non-profits. Yet, when they are into telemarketing, they promote themselves as non-profits to bypass the rules of telemarketing services that they will be otherwise subjected to. Though the rules will not be a problem for the bona fide call center units, the ones up to some mischief will be in some sort of a bother. The law also forbidding BPO units from charging any fees for services that they have not provided comes into effect from October 27.
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