PPC '09 SS-FINAL_mtd_mtd

PPC '09 SS-FINAL_mtd_mtd.pdf

Trade Reg. Rule Concerning Pay-Per-Call Services and Other Telephone-Billed Purchases (Pay-Per-Call Rule)

OMB: 3084-0102

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Supporting Statement for Information Collection Provisions of
the Trade Regulation Rule Pursuant to the Telephone Disclosure
and Dispute Resolution Act of 1992
("Pay-Per-Call Rule")
16 C.F.R. Part 308
OMB Control No.: 3084-0102

(1)

Necessity for Collecting the Information

The Telephone Disclosure and Dispute Resolution Act of 1992 (“TDDRA”), 15 U.S.C.
§§ 5701 et seq., as amended, was enacted to curtail unfair and deceptive practices engaged in by
some “pay-per-call services”1 and other “telephone-billed purchases,”2 and to encourage the
growth of the legitimate pay-per-call industry.3 The TDDRA requires the Federal Trade
Commission (“FTC” or “Commission”) to prescribe regulations governing various aspects of
pay-per-call services and telephone-billed purchases. The Commission’s Pay-Per-Call Rule, 16
C.F.R. Part 308, implements Titles II and III of the TDDRA.
•

Title II of the TDDRA, 15 U.S.C. §§ 5711-5714, directs the FTC to enact regulations
governing advertising by, and other service standards for, the pay-per-call industry. Title

1

The TDDRA defines “pay-per-call service” to mean, in relevant part, any service in which any person
provides or purports to provide either: (1) audio information or entertainment produced or packaged by such
person; (2) access to simultaneous voice conversation services; or (3) any service, including the provision of a
product, the charges for which are assessed on the basis of the completion of the call. See 47 U.S.C. § 228(I)
(Telecommunications Act of 1934, as amended by the TDDRA). This definition applies only where the caller
pays a per-call or per-time-interval charge that is greater than, or in addition to, the charge for the call. Id.
The definition is further limited to services that are accessed through use of a 900 telephone number or other
prefix or area code, as designated by the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”). Id. The definition
does not include directory services provided by a common carrier or its affiliate or by a local exchange carrier
or its affiliate, or any service for which users are assessed charges only after entering into a presubscription or
comparable arrangement with the service provider. Id. Title II of the TDDRA, which authorizes the
disclosure requirements of the Commission’s Rule, incorporates this definition by reference. See 15 U.S.C.
§ 5714. Furthermore, the Telecommunications Act of 1996 authorizes the FTC to extend its Rule to cover
“similar” audio information and entertainment services that are “susceptible to the unfair or deceptive acts or
practices that are prohibited by” the Rule, whether or not such services are accessed through a 900 number or
other prefix or area code specifically designated by the FCC under the Communications Act definition. See
Pub. L. No. 104-104, § 701(b), 110 Stat. 56 (Feb. 8, 1996).
2

15 U.S.C. §§ 5711(c), 5721(c). Under the TDDRA, “telephone-billed purchase” refers to a purchase of
goods or services (other than telephone toll services) that is “completed solely as a consequence of completion
of the call or a subsequent dialing, touch tone entry, or comparable action of the caller,” and includes all payper-call services. 15 U.S.C. § 5724(1).
3

Title I of the Act directs the FCC to adopt regulations defining the obligations of common carriers in
connection with providing tariffed common carrier services to providers of pay-per-call services. See 47
U.S.C. § 228; 47 C.F.R. §§ 64,1501 et seq. (FCC regulations).

Dated: April 2009

II provides, among other things, that disclosures of cost and certain other information
must appear in all advertising for pay-per-call programs and in introductory messages
(“preambles”) at the start of pay-per-call programs.
•

Title III, 15 U.S.C. §§ 5721-5724, requires that the FTC promulgate regulations
establishing procedures for resolving disputes and correcting billing errors in connection
with telephone-billed purchases.

As directed by Title II, the Commission’s implementing Rule currently requires that
advertisements for pay-per-call services disclose certain material information, including the cost
of the call. See § 308.3. This material information must also be included in an introductory
message (preamble) at the beginning of any pay-per-call program where the cost of the call
could exceed two dollars. See § 308.5. The Rule also requires that anyone who calls a pay-percall service be given the opportunity to hang up at the conclusion of the preamble without
incurring any charge for the call. Id. In addition, the Rule requires that all preambles to pay-percall services state that individuals under the age of 18 must have the permission of a parent or
guardian to complete the call. Id.
Pursuant to Title III, the Rule establishes procedures for resolving billing disputes for
telephone-billed purchases, such as pay-per-call services. See § 308.7. The Rule imposes
certain obligations on entities that bill and collect for telephone-billed purchases, such as
investigating and responding to billing disputes. Id.
In short, the Rule’s reporting and disclosure requirements are necessary because they are
expressly mandated by the Act. The Rule’s one reporting requirement (found under 1a below)
for common carriers is necessary for law enforcement purposes. The disclosure requirements
(found under 1b below) ensure that consumers are given clear and accurate information about
terms and conditions, the opportunity to decline the service, and there is a fair dispute resolution
process. In addition, there are protections in place to ensure that underage children are not
signed up for services without permission from a parent or guardian [found under 1b(1)-(2)
below].
1a.

Reporting requirement

The requirement in current § 308.6, that common carriers grant the Commission, upon
written request, access to records regarding their service arrangements with pay-per-call
providers (“vendors”) and service bureaus continues to be necessary because the TDDRA
expressly requires the Commission to adopt such a requirement.4 See 15 U.S.C. § 5711(a)(3).
Common carriers are primarily regulated by the FCC and are normally exempt from FTC
jurisdiction to the extent they are engaged in common carrier activities. The reporting
requirement is essential to the FTC’s exercise of its law enforcement authority by making

4

This requirement has not been categorized as record-keeping, since it does not require the maintenance of
records to be reported.

Dated: April 2009

2

explicit the agency’s jurisdiction to obtain information from telephone companies that provide
transmission services to pay-per-call providers. The information reported to the FTC is itself
necessary and used for law enforcement purposes, i.e., so that the Commission can determine
legal compliance with the TDDRA and the Commission’s Rule.
1b.

Disclosure requirements

(1) Advertising disclosures. The TDDRA specifically requires these disclosures. See
TDDRA § 201(a)(1), 15 U.S.C. § 5711(a)(1) (requirements for pay-per-call advertising
regulations). The advertising disclosure requirements of the Rule (§§ 308.3 and 308.4) are
essential in order for consumers to understand the costs associated with the use of a pay-per-call
number and any other pay-per-call service to which the caller might be transferred, and to
prevent and prohibit certain unfair and deceptive practices in pay-per-call advertisements. The
provider shall also ensure that any pay-per-call directed primarily to individuals under the age of
18 must have the permission of such individual’s parent or legal guardian prior to calling such
pay-per-call service. See 16 C.F.R. 308.3(f).
(2) Preamble disclosures. The TDDRA specifically requires these disclosures. See
TDDRA § 201(a)(2), 15 U.S.C. § 5711(a)(2) (pay-per-call service standards, requirements for
introductory disclosure message). The preamble disclosure requirements of the Rule (§ 308.9),
like the advertising disclosures discussed supra, are necessary in order for consumers to be
informed of the cost of a call and other pay-per-call service information. This includes a
requirement to inform the caller that anyone under the age of 18 must have the permission of a
parent or legal guardian in order to complete the call. See 16 C.F.R. § 308.5(a)(4).
(3) Disclosure of telephone-billed charges in billing statements. The TDDRA expressly
mandates the Rule’s current requirements for disclosure of telephone-billed charges in billing
statements, § 308.5(j). See TDDRA § 201(a)(2)(H), 15 U.S.C. § 5711(a)(2)(H).
(4) Disclosure of dispute resolution procedures in billing statements. The TDDRA
mandates the requirement in § 308.7(c) of the current Rule that billing statements disclose the
dispute resolution procedures that are available to consumers. See TDDRA § 301(a)(2).5

(2)

Use of the Information
2a.

Reporting requirement

As noted in 1a, information reported by common carriers to the Commission upon
request (§ 308.6) and relating to the provision of non-local telecommunications, is used by the
Commission for law enforcement purposes (i.e., determining legal compliance with the Rule).

5

See 15 U.S.C. § 5721(a)(2) (requiring that the Rule afford dispute rights substantially similar to those
afforded under the Truth in Lending and Fair Credit Billing Acts).

Dated: April 2009

3

2b.

Disclosure requirements

The various disclosures prescribed by the Rule are used to convey information required
by the TDDRA regarding the cost and other terms and conditions of the pay-per-call service in
advertisements to consumers and in the preamble to pay-per-call programs, and to inform
consumers of their rights and obligation to dispute a charge if they believe a billing error has
occurred. Consumers, in turn, use this information to decide whether or not to use the pay-percall service, including the charges they must pay if they use the service, and how and whether to
exercise their billing dispute rights.

(3)

Consideration of the Use of Information Technology to Reduce Burden

The information collection requirements of the Pay-Per-Call Rule do not prohibit
affected persons from using any improved information technology to reduce the burden, which is
consistent with the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, Pub. L. 105-277, § 1704, 44 U.S.C.
§ 3504 note. The Rule’s reporting requirement is format-neutral and simply requires the
production of documents upon request in whatever form they may be maintained, which may
include electronic. To the extent the disclosure requirements implicitly or explicitly require that
the disclosure be made in the same format as the advertisement, preamble, or other setting to
which the disclosure relates, it would be impracticable to permit a service provider to make that
disclosure in some alternative electronic format, which would undermine the consumer
protection purpose of the disclosure. In any event, many of the disclosures, by their nature, are
inherently made in an electronic format (e.g., in the telephone call itself, in television
advertising, etc.).

(4)

Efforts to Identify Duplication

The disclosure and reporting requirements of the Rule do not duplicate other information
collection requirements by the Commission, or, to its knowledge, the requirements of other
federal or state government agencies. To promote consistency in enforcement and compliance
with respect to the pay-per-call industry, and to minimize the industry’s compliance burden, the
Commission and the FCC initially adopted similar prohibitions and definitions concerning payper-call services in their respective Pay-Per-Call Rules. The Commission’s Rule governs the
advertising, marketing and billing practices of the vendors, service bureaus, billing entities, and,
to a limited extent, the common carriers who lease 900 numbers and other numbers to vendors of
pay-per-call services. In contrast, the FCC’s rule defines the obligations of common carriers
with respect to the provision of 900-number services. Thus, the requirements of the
Commission's Pay-Per-Call Rule do not duplicate any other information collection requirements
by the FCC, but rather complement those requirements and ensure that the two agencies charged
with regulation of this industry impose compatible standards.
There is no other information readily and routinely available from other sources that
would provide the information that the Pay-Per-Call Rule requires to be disclosed to the public
Dated: April 2009

4

or provided to the Commission. In fact, this is what prompted Congress to enact the TDDRA,
which mandated promulgation of the Pay-Per-Call Rule.

(5)

Efforts to Minimize Burden on Small Businesses or other Small Entities

The Commission has designed the Rule to minimize the compliance burden of these
requirements as much as possible. In virtually every instance, the disclosures required by the
Rule repeat exactly or follow closely the language of the requirements as set forth in the
TDDRA. Thus, the Rule consistently prescribes “performance” standards rather than “design”
standards (i.e., specific compliance methods) that might potentially be more burdensome for
regulated entities to satisfy. Similarly, as directed by the statute, the Commission patterned the
billing dispute provisions of the Rule on the statutory requirements of the Truth in Lending Act
and Fair Credit Billing Act without substantial change. Furthermore, while the Rule does
require some reporting and disclosure, the Commission has eschewed any mandatory
recordkeeping provisions.
Staff has determined that previously the Rule does not have a significant economic
impact on a substantial number of small entities. See 63 Fed. Reg. at 58,557 (certification of no
effect under the Regulatory Flexibility Act). As noted above, the Commission recently
published estimate for burden costs and hours for public comment in compliance with the
Paperwork Reducation Act (“PRA”) in December of 2008, and received no comment. 73 FR
79881, (Dec. 30, 2008).

(6)

Consequences of Conducting the Collection Less Frequently
6a.

Reporting requirement

As noted earlier, the Rule’s sole reporting requirement requires common carriers to
provide financial information about vendors and service bureaus, upon request, to the FTC.
These records are kept in the normal course of business and there is no requirement that the
information be provided on a regular basis. To the extent this information must be made
available to the Commission only upon request, the failure of the Commission to obtain this
information would hamper the agency’s ability to determine whether a regulated entity is in
compliance with the Rule and thus jeopardize enforcement efforts.
6b.

Disclosure requirements

The disclosures required by the Rule provide consumers with the information necessary
to make informed purchasing decisions. The TDDRA mandates these disclosures. To do less
than this would violate the TDDRA and frustrate the Congressional intent underlying the statute.
(7)

Circumstances Requiring Collection Inconsistent with Guidelines

Dated: April 2009

5

The information collection requirements in the Pay-Per-Call Rule are consistent with all
applicable guidelines contained in 5 C.F.R. § 1320.5(d).

(8)

Consultation Outside the Agency

The Commission consulted with parties outside the agency in promulgating the original
Rule. In drafting the original Rule, the staff received comments from and in some cases met
with numerous members of the pay-per-call industry, including vendors, associations, telephone
companies, and consumer organizations. The Commission also conducted a public workshop at
which representatives of affected interests and law enforcement officials participated in a
discussion of the Rule's requirements. See 58 Fed. Reg. 13,370 (March 10, 1993) (announcing
public workshop). The Commission used this information to help it balance the need for
consumers to receive certain information prior to calling and in connection with billing for payper-call services, with the burden such requirements would place on affected entities, within the
confines of the statutory requirements.
The Commission sought public comment on the Rule and its associated burden analysis
multiple times. 64 Fed. Reg. 70,031 (Dec. 15, 1999), 67 Fed. Reg. 77,066 (Dec. 16, 2002), 71
FR 9128, (Feb. 26, 2006). Although all public comments and discussion were generally directed
to the compliance obligations of the Rule, the comments did not provide significant information,
if any, on the FTC’s specific burden hour or cost calculations regarding the current Rule’s
information collection requirements, despite the FTC’s affirmative request for comment on these
provisions.
The Commission again sought public comment on PRA aspects of the Rule, as required
by 5 C.F.R. § 1320.8(d). 73 Fed. Reg. 79881 (Dec. 30, 2008). No comments were received.
The FTC is providing another opportunity for public comment on its request for extension of the
clearance for the Rule by publishing another Federal Register notice, contemporaneous with this
submission.

(9)

Payment and Gifts to Respondents
Not applicable.

(10) & (11)

Assurances of Confidentiality/Matters of a Sensitive Nature

Information covered by the sole reporting requirement of the Rule (§ 308.6) is normally
collected by the Commission for law enforcement purposes. In such cases, it would be subject
to the confidentiality provisions of sections 6(f) and 21 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, 15
U.S.C. §§ 46(f) and 57b-2, as applicable. Section 6(f), which tracks Exemption 4 of the
Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4), protects trade secrets and commercial or
financial information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential. Section 21 of the
Dated: April 2009

6

FTC Act protects information submitted pursuant to compulsory process or voluntarily in lieu
thereof in a Commission investigation. See FTC Act §§ 21(b) & (f), 15 U.S.C. §§ 57b-2(b) &
(f). These confidentiality provisions are also set forth in the Commission’s Rules of Practice.
See, e.g., 16 C.F.R. § 4.10(a) (records not required to be made public).

(12)

Estimated Annual Hour and Labor Cost Burden

The FTC’s PRA analysis in the recent 60-day Federal Register notice provided estimates
of the annual hour burden imposed by the Rule’s information collection (i.e., reporting and
disclosure) requirements. See 73 Fed. Reg. 79881 (Dec. 30, 2008). The FTC’s estimates are
also set forth below first in total and then separately.
As mentioned in the Federal Register notices, the FTC is not seeking renewed clearance
for the proposed rule changes that were granted in the 2006 request in our current 2009 request.6
Those proposed changes have not been enacted and any final decision thereto is too uncertain to
merit inclusion in this request for clearance renewal. The Commission will seek PRA clearance
separately for any proposed rule amendments if that becomes necessary at a future date.
Total estimated annual hours burden for annual reporting (a) and disclosure (b)
burden: 2,468,412 hours
Total estimated labor costs for annual reporting (a) and disclosure (b) burden:
$133,705,222
Likely respondents and their estimated number:
Respondents are telecommunications common carriers (subject to the reporting
requirement only, unless acting as a billing entity), information providers (vendors) offering one
or more pay-per-call services or programs, and billing entities. Staff estimates that there are 13

6

The proposed amendments had included two new advertising disclosures, a new preamble disclosure, and
two new disclosures relating to the billing and dispute resolution process. We no longer include burden
estimate relating to those proposals in our current burden estimates, the effect of which is explained further in
our answer to Specification 15 and within the individual Information Collections set out in ROCIS.

Dated: April 2009

7

common carriers,7 approximately 13,350 vendors,8and approximately 1,250 possible billing
entities.9
(a) Reporting: 39 hours
FTC staff has decreased its burden hour estimate to 39 hours, because of continued
industry changes and the infrequency with which the Commission has relied on this requirement.
FTC staff estimates roughly 13 common carriers will expend on an average estimate of 3 hours
annually.
Using a $75 blended wage rate (assuming for all labor calculations herein, $35/hour for
computer programmers, $250/hour for attorneys, $15/hour for skilled clerical workers, and
$50/hour for managers),10 the FTC estimates an annual labor cost of $2,925 for respondents in
reporting.
(b) Disclosure: 2,468,373 hours
(1) Advertising. FTC staff estimates that the annual burden on the industry for the
Rule’s advertising disclosure requirements is 48,060 hours. The estimate reflects the burden on
approximately 13,350 vendors who must make cost disclosures for all pay-per-call services and

7

This estimate is based on the North American Numbering Plan Association Report, ‘‘900-NXX
Codes,” (http://www.nanpa.com/nas/public/form900MasterReport.do?method=display900MasterReport)
(updated as of November 2008), and excluding Canadian entities and one carrier that recently withdrew from
carrying 900 number service. See Federal Communications Commission, “Section 63.71 Application of Sprint
Communications Company L.P. for Authority to Discontinue Domestic Telecommunications Services,”
Order, WC Docket No. 08-116, DA 08-2557 (Wireline Competition Bureau Nov. 24, 2008) (“FCC Sprint
Order”).
8

This number or an estimate thereof is difficult to derive as there is no ready source of such statistics. For
instant purposes, FTC staff has reduced its most recent prior (2006) PRA-related estimate of the number of
vendors (approximately 15,000) by 11 percent, reflecting a corresponding decrease in the allocation of 900
numbers. It is noteworthy that one carrier which recently withdrew from carrying 900-number services stated
that between 2004 and 2007 claimed that it saw a 41.5 percent decrease in vendor use of such numbers. See
FCC Sprint Order. However, erring conservatively, FTC staff instead is applying an 11 percent reduction in
the number of vendors, tied to a comparison of the number of 900-NXX codes allocated per vendor, as
reported annually by the North American Numbering Plan Administration (NANPA). In 2004, it was 133; in
2007, it fell to 118.
9

The Federal Communications Commission report on telephone statistics indicated that at the end of 2007
there were approximately 1,250 local telephone companies (local exchange carriers). See Local Telephone
Competition: Status as of December 31, 2007 (released 9/08) (tables 3 and 4), available at
(http://www.fcc.gov/wcb/iatd/comp.html).
10

This blended wage rate is based upon an estimate of 30 percent for computer programming, 20 percent for
attorney services, 30 percent for skilled clerical workers, and 20 percent for managerial time.

Dated: April 2009

8

additional disclosures if the advertisement is (a) directed to individuals under 18 or (b) for
certain pay-per-call services.11 Because of continued industry changes and the infrequency with
which the Commission has relied on this requirement, staff is reducing the estimated percentage
of advertising both directed to individuals under 18 and relating to certain other pay-per-call
services to 20 percent of overall pay-per-call services. FTC staff estimates that each disclosure
mandated by the Rule requires approximately one hour of compliance time.
The total estimated annual cost of these burden hours is $3,316,140 applying a blended
wage rate of $69/hour.12
(2) Preamble disclosure.
Due to changes in the industry, FTC staff has reduced estimates of the industry size by 11
percent to no more than 40,819 advertised pay-per-call services. FTC staff estimates that 20
percent of all such pay-per-call services (8,164) relating to certain types of pay-per-call services
require additional preamble disclosures.13 On further reflection, staff has reduced its estimate to
no more than one hour to draft each type of disclosure because the disclosures applicable to the
preamble closely approximate in content and volume the advertising disclosures discussed
above. Accordingly, staff estimates a total of 48,983 burden hours (40,819 + 8,164) to comply
with these requirements. At one hour each, cumulative labor cost associated with these
disclosures is $3,379,827, using a blended wage rate of $69/hour (i.e., similar to the blended rate
used for advertising disclosures).
(3) Telephone-billed charges in billing statements. Because these disclosures appear on
telephone bills already generated by the local telephone companies and because the carriers are
already subject to nearly identical requirements pursuant to the FCC’s rules, FTC staff continues
to estimate that the burden to comply would be minimal. FTC staff estimates that only 10
percent of vendors (1,335) would monitor billing statements in this manner and that it would
take 12 hours per year to conduct such checks. Using the total estimated number of vendors
noted above, this results in a total of 16,020 burden hours. The total annual cost would be at
most $997,245, using a blended rate of $62.25/hour.14

11

Based on an assumed three advertisements per vendor, or a total of 40,050 ads (for 13,350 vendors, as
explained in note 7), plus an estimated total 20 percent of which would require such additional disclosures, or
8,010 advertisements. Staff estimates that it would require no more than one hour to draft each type of
disclosure. Accordingly, at an estimated one hour each, vendors would require cumulatively 48,060 burden
hours to comply with these requirements.

12

The blended rate is based upon 20 percent for attorney services, 60 percent for skilled clerical workers, and
20 percent for management time.

13

See note 10.

14

The blended rate is 15 percent for attorney services, 40 percent for skilled clerical workers, 25 percent for
computer programming, and 20 percent for management time.

Dated: April 2009

9

(4) Dispute resolution procedures in billing statements. These disclosures convey
information required by the TDDRA to inform consumers of their rights and obligations relating
to the procedures for resolving disputes in connection with telephone-billed purchases. The
blended rate being used for these disclosures is $53.5/hour.15 The estimated hour burden for the
annual notice component of this requirement is 6,250 burden hours (based on 1,250 possible
billing entities each requiring 5 hours each), or a total cost of $334,375.
(5) Further disclosures related to consumers reporting a billing error
These disclosures convey information required by the TDDRA to inform consumers of
their rights and obligations relating to the correction of billing errors in connection with
telephone-billed purchases. FTC staff has decreased its estimate of the number of those calls by
6 percent16 (down to 46,981,200 calls in 2009) to reflect recent changes in the amount of payper-call services and their billing. Assuming the same apportionment (5 percent) of overall calls
to pay-per-call services, this amounts to 2,349,060 hours, cumulatively. Applying the
$53.5/hour blended wage rate, the estimated annual cost is $125,674,710 annually.

(13)

Estimated Annual Capital and/or Other Non-labor Related Costs

Pursuant to OMB instructions, this item excludes the cost of burden hours already
identified in item 12 supra and cost to the government identified in item 14 infra.
a.

Total capital and start-up costs

No comments were received that provided specific information regarding capital or startup costs relating to compliance with the current Rule. As explained earlier, compliance costs
consist mainly of labor expenses incurred in meeting the reporting and disclosure requirements,
and are generally expected to utilize existing equipment, facilities, functions or capabilities
associated with the ordinary course of business (e.g., advertising, billing, etc.).
b.

Total operation and maintenance and purchase of services component

Not applicable. If services necessary for compliance are purchased from outside the
business rather than performed in-house, these costs would be substantially similar to the labor
costs estimated earlier. Likewise, the Rule does not appear to impose special operation and
maintenance costs that would be apart from those normally incurred in the ordinary course of
business.
15

The blended rate is 40 percent for computer programming, 10 percent for attorney services, 30 percent for
skilled clerical workers, and 20 percent for management time.

16

Six percent is determined by an approximate halving of the above-noted 11% reduction staff has applied to
its prior estimate of the number of vendors (see Note 7). As in past clearance requests for this Rule, it is
halved on the assumption that pay-per-call services do not account for any more than half of all telephonebilled purchases.

Dated: April 2009

10

(14)

Estimated Cost to the Federal Government

Enforcing the information collection and reporting requirement of the Pay-per-call Rule
will require approximately ½ (one half) of an attorney/investigator work year at an annualized
approximate cost of $100,000 per year. Thus, the approximate total cost to the Commission in
connection with enforcing and monitoring Rule compliance will be $50,000. Clerical and other
support services are included in these estimates.

(15)

Program Changes or Adjustments

The FTC estimates a decrease from the previous annual burden estimate of 4,401,000
hours (2006) down to 2,468,412 hours (2009). This decrease is due in part to an adjustment
stemming from the ongoing changes in the pay-per-call industry as noted in our answer to
specification 12. Part of the estimated decrease also stems from a program change whereby the
FTC is not seeking renewed clearance for the proposed rule changes that were granted in the
2006 request this time around. Those proposed changes have not been enacted and any final
decision thereto is too uncertain to merit inclusion in this request for clearance renewal. The
Commission will seek PRA clearance separately for any proposed rule amendments if that
becomes necessary at a future date.

(16)

Statistical Use of Information/Publication of Results

There are no plans to publish information associated with the proposed requirements for
statistical use.

(17)

Display of Expiration Date for OMB Approval
Not applicable.

(18)

Exceptions to the “Certification of Paperwork Reduction Act Submissions”
Not applicable.

Dated: April 2009

11


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