Mississippi Code 1972 (2023) › Title 77 - PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS (§§ 77-1-1 — 77-NEW-NEW-004) › Chapter 3 - REGULATION OF PUBLIC UTILITIES (§§ 77-3-NEW — 77-3-809) › Article 13 - UNSOLICITED RESIDENTIAL TELEPHONIC SALES CALLS (§§ 77-3-601 — 77-3-619) › Section 77-3-609 - Exempt parties and transactions

The provisions of Sections
77-3-601
through
77-3-619
shall not apply to:
(a)
A person engaging in commercial telephone solicitation where the solicitation is an isolated transaction and not done in the course of a pattern of repeated transactions of like nature.
(b)
A person making calls for religious, charitable, political, education or other noncommercial purposes, or a person soliciting for a nonprofit corporation if that corporation is properly registered as such with the Secretary of State and is included within the exemption of Section 501(c)(3) or Section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code.
(c)
A person soliciting:
(i)
Without the intent to complete or obtain provisional acceptance of a sale during the telephone solicitation;
(ii)
Who does not make the major sales presentation during the telephone solicitation; or
(iii)
Without the intent to complete, and who does not complete, the sales presentation during the telephone solicitation, but who completes the sales presentation at a later face-to-face meeting between the seller and the prospective purchaser. However, if a seller, directly following a telephone solicitation, causes an individual whose primary purpose it is to go to the prospective purchaser to collect the payment or deliver any item purchased, this exemption does not apply.
(d)
Any licensed securities, commodities, or investments broker, dealer or investment advisor, when soliciting within the scope of his license. As used in this section, "licensed securities, commodities, or investments broker, dealer or investment advisor" means a person subject to license or registration as such by the Securities and Exchange Commission, by the National Association of Securities Dealers or other self-regulatory organization as defined by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (
15 USC Section 781
), or by an official or agency of this state or of any state of the United States.
(e)
Any licensed associated person of a securities, commodities, or investments broker, dealer or investment advisor, when soliciting within the scope of his license. As used in this section, "licensed associated person of a securities, commodities, or investment broker, dealer or investment advisor" means any associated person registered or licensed by the National Association of Securities Dealers or other self-regulatory organization as defined by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (
15 USC Section 781
) or by an official or agency of this state or of any state of the United States.
(f)
A person primarily soliciting the sale of a newspaper, magazine or periodical of general circulation by its publisher, or by the publisher's agent through written agreement.
(g)
A book, video or record club or contractual plan or arrangement:
(i)
Under which the seller provides the consumer with a form which the consumer may use to instruct the seller not to ship the offered merchandise;
(ii)
Which is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission trade regulation concerning "use of negative option plans by sellers in commerce"; or
(iii)
Which provides for the sale of books, records or videos which are not covered under paragraphs (i) or (ii), including continuity plans, subscription arrangements, standing order arrangements, supplements and series arrangements under which the seller periodically ships merchandise to a consumer who has consented in advance to receive such merchandise on a periodic basis.
(h)
Any supervised financial institution or parent, subsidiary or affiliate thereof. As used in this section, "supervised financial institution" means any commercial bank, trust company, savings and loan association, mutual savings bank, credit union, industrial loan company, consumer finance lender, commercial finance lender or insurer, provided that the institution is subject to supervision by an official or agency of this state, of any state or of the United States.
(i)
Any licensed insurance or real estate broker, agent, customer representative or solicitor when soliciting within the scope of his license. As used in this section, "licensed insurance or real estate broker, agent, customer representative or solicitor" means any insurance or real estate broker, agent, customer representative or solicitor licensed by an official or agency of this state or of any state of the United States.
(j)
A person soliciting the sale of services provided by a cable television system operating under authority of a franchise or permit.
(k)
A person who solicits sales by periodically publishing and delivering a catalog of the seller's merchandise to prospective purchasers, if the catalog:
(i)
Contains a written description or illustration of each item offered for sale;
(ii)
Includes the business address or home office address of the seller;
(iii)
Includes at least twenty-four (24) pages of written material and illustrations and is distributed in more than one (1) state; or
(iv)
Has an annual circulation by mailing of not less than two hundred fifty thousand (250,000).
(l)
A person who solicits contracts for the maintenance or repair of goods previously purchased from the person making the solicitation or on whose behalf the solicitation is made.
(m)
A telephone company, or its subsidiary or agents, or a business which is regulated by the Mississippi Public Service Commission, or a Federal Communications Commission licensed cellular telephone company or other bona fide radio telecommunication services provider.
(n)
Any publicly traded corporation which has securities registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission which are a reported security within the meaning of subparagraph (4) of Regulation Section 240.11a3-1,(a), under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, or which is exempt from registration under subparagraph (A), (B), (C), (E), (F), (G) or (H) of paragraph (2) of subsection (g) of Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (
15 USC Section 781
), or any subsidiary of such a corporation.
(o)
A business soliciting exclusively the sale of telephone answering services, provided that the telephone answering services will be supplied by the solicitor.
(p)
A person soliciting a transaction regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission if the person is registered or temporarily licensed for this activity with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission under the Commodity Exchange Act (
7 USC Section 1
et seq.) and the registration or license has not expired or been suspended or revoked.
(q)
A person soliciting the sale of food or produce if the solicitation neither intends to result in, or actually results in, a sale which costs the purchaser in excess of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
(r)
A person soliciting business from prospective consumers who have an established business relationship with, or who have previously purchased from, the business enterprise for which the solicitor is calling, if the solicitor is operating under the same exact business name.
(s)
A person who has been operating, for at least one (1) year, a retail business establishment under the same name as that used in connection with telemarketing, and both of the following occur on a continuing basis:
(i)
Either products are displayed and offered for sale, or services are offered for sale and provided at the business establishment; and
(ii)
A majority of the seller's business involves the buyer obtaining such products or services at the seller's location.
(t)
Any telephone marketing service company which provides telemarketing sales services under contract to sellers and has been operating continuously for at least five (5) years under the same business name and seventy-five percent (75%) of its contracts are performed on behalf of persons exempted from Sections
77-3-601
through
77-3-619
.
Laws, 1993, ch. 538, § 5, eff. 7/1/1993.
Brought forward by Laws, 2023, ch. 416, HB 1225,§ 24, eff. 7/1/2023.