Sep 02, 2008 - 11:20 AM

By Melissa Mancini

DURHAM -- Barb Mayall is sick of calls from telemarketers, especially when the phone interrupts her dinner.

"I am so tired of all these calls," said Ms. Mayall, a retiree who estimates on most days she answers three to four calls from vendors attempting to sell her everything from credit cards to cruise vacations, window replacement to duct cleaning.

Ms. Mayall's husband, Frank, agrees.

"I don't even want to listen to them," he said. "Most of them don't even sound into their sales pitches themselves."

Those bothersome calls may soon become a thing of the past for homeowners tired of being pestered.

The National "do not call list" is expected to be launched by this fall, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) said. The list will be run by Bell Canada and will allow phone owners who sign up to look forward to fewer sales spiels.

Mr. Mayall has heard a bit about the list and will probably sign up for it, he said.

Retirees like the Mayalls get many unwanted calls. Agnes Coghill, another retiree, said she gets up to six calls a day and recently invested in caller identification so she can avoid answering unwanted calls.

"Call ID has made a huge difference in my life," she said.

Registration for the list will be free. The operational costs for Bell Canada will come from subscription fees paid to the list by telemarketing companies.

Registration for the service will be available online and by phone.

Subscriptions to the list will expire after three years and the onus will be on phone owners to renew. Land lines, cellphones and fax numbers can be signed up for the list. Bell will not be required to call subscribers to let them know when they will be removed from the list.

Some callers will be exempt for the list. Registered charities, political parties, political candidates, opinion polls and market research firms who are not selling a product will be exempt. Other exceptions include newspapers calling to sell subscriptions and calls to consumers who have existing business relationships with a company.

The only way to stop calls from organizations exempt from the list is to get on their individual do not call lists.

Consumers can make complaints about calls if they have signed up for the do not call list by dialing a toll-free number that has yet to be determined. The fines for violations of the list will be up to $1,500 for individuals and up to $15,000 for corporations.