June 27, 2002 PUC: 50 R.02-02-020

Media Contact: PUC Press Office - 415.703.1366 - news@cpuc.ca.gov

PUC SETS ERROR RATES FOR PREDICTIVE DIALERS, REDUCING HANG-UPS FOR CONSUMERS

The California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) today took action to reduce the amount of hang-ups consumers receive when answering calls placed by telemarketers that use automatic dialing devices for predictive dialing. The PUC set the error rate at three percent effective July 1, 2002, and proposes to reduce the rate to one percent on January 1, 2003, pending further review.

Today's action is in response to Assembly Bill 870, enacted into law last year. It specifies action the Commission will take to address the problem of hang-ups caused by predictive dialers, which can be a nuisance, distract people from important tasks, or frighten them.

An error is defined as a call that is answered by a live person and the predictive dialer disconnects the call after the called party has answered; or the called party does not receive a response from the calling agent or telemarketer within two seconds; or no agent or telemarketer is available within four seconds of the called party's telephone going off-hook. The four-second off-hook standard is transitional and will be phased out in six months.

The call error rate does not apply to automatic dialing-announcing equipment when it is used to call an established business associate, customer, or other person having an established relationship with the person using the device to transmit the message.

The Commission also set preliminary record-keeping requirements today and will hold workshops to further address record keeping, whether the error rate should be reduced to 1 percent, and proposals for informing the public about do-not-call registers and other means of protecting themselves from unwanted calls.

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