JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - Almost 100,000 Mississippians have signed up for the Mississippi No Call Registry for cellphones in just six months.
The Clarion-Ledger reports (https://on.thec-l.com/2hSFKlr ) what was once considered a problem only for landline phone users - calls from telemarketers - has now drawn the ire of cellphone users.
On July 1, the Mississippi PSC began registering cellphones.
Central Mississippi Public Service Commissioner Cecil Brown says the service is free. And though they can’t block all calls for various technical and legal reasons, he says they can stop many unwanted calls coming through.
Brown said residents can sign up by visiting www.psc.state.ms.us or by calling the office at 601-961-5430 or toll free at 1-800-356-6430.
Once a person has registered, it takes two months for a number to be officially on the list. At that time, a cellphone owner can call and report the unsolicited calls. PSC’s website contains the information needed in order to make a complaint.
The PSC cannot stop every call, because some types are exempt from the law, and some are from foreign countries where the state agency doesn’t have jurisdiction.
Telemarketing calls exempted from the law include:
- An entity that does not make the major sales presentation during the call;
- An entity that does not try to complete the sale during the call;
- An entity with no intent to complete the sale on the call, but arranges a face-to-face meeting with the consumer to complete the sale;
- Mississippi licensed real estate agents; motor vehicle dealers; insurance agents; funeral homes, cemeteries or monument dealers
- Registered securities brokers and investment advisers and registered charitable organizations or callers on their behalf that receive no compensation;
- Newspapers;
- Financial institutions with a physical location in Mississippi that are subject to supervision by an official state or federal agency;
- Any telemarketer who has an established business relationship with the person being called.
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Information from: The Clarion-Ledger, https://www.clarionledger.com
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