Attorney General announces ‘Do Not Call’ deadline to avoid telemarketers

Anyone annoyed by telemarketers can have hope for quick relief – if they act fast. \nThe registration deadline for Indiana’s “Do Not Call” list is Feb. 19. If registered by this date, Indiana residents will receive fewer or no telemarketing phone calls starting April 1.\nThe “Do Not Call” list regulates calls made to numbers on the list, significantly reducing the amount and type of phone calls. For most, this will result in fewer or no calls from telemarketers.\n“Once you place your phone number on the list, telemarketers are restricted from calling that phone number,” said Staci Schneider, chief communication officer and press secretary for the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. \nMore than 1.9 million numbers are already registered on the list, Schneider said.\nA few organizations cannot be restricted from calling, however, including newspapers, licensed real estate and insurance agents and charitable organizations. \nSome students find being on the “Do Not Call” list helpful.\n“If you don’t like being bothered it’s necessary,” junior Pat Hards said. “When you’re at home and your phone is ringing off the hook at around 5 or 6 p.m. and you don’t want to answer it, it makes you all stressed out.”\nOther students do not worry about unwanted calls.\n“Because I primarily use a cell phone, I don’t have problems with solicitor calls,” junior Leitia Webb said.\nHowever, students who do not worry about their cell phones acknowledge these calls are primarily a problem with landline phones.\n“When I’m at home I get annoyed,” Webb said. “I always answer and say ‘Sorry, no thanks, bye.’” \nTo register for the “Do Not Call” list, Hoosiers can call 1-888-834-9969 or go to http://www.in.gov/attorneygeneral to register online. People may register after the Feb. 19 deadline, but the ban on telemarketers calling them will not be effective until later in the year.