( CNN ) -- Starting Tuesday , many `` robocalls '' from telemarketers will be illegal . A new ban on automated telemarketing calls goes into effect Tuesday . Businesses that try to push products on consumers with automated and unsolicited calls will face fines of up to $ 16,000 per call , according to the Federal Trade Commission . `` American consumers have made it crystal clear that few things annoy them more than the billions of commercial telemarketing robocalls they receive every year , '' FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz said in a news release . Calls from politicians , public service announcements and `` informational '' calls will be exempt from the new rule . A call alerting a traveler that his or her flight has been delayed would still be allowed , for example . Banks , telephone carriers and most charitable organizations are also excluded from the ban , the FTC says . The FTC asks people to report questionable robocalls by visiting its complaint Web site or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP . `` If consumers think they 're being harassed by robocallers , they need to let us know , and we will go after them , '' Leibowitz said . The ban on many pre-recorded calls was approved by the FTC in August of 2008 and is the last of a series of amendments to go into effect , said Lois Greisman , the FTC 's associate director of marketing practices . She said the ban applies only to pre-recorded calls and encouraged consumers to sign up for the federal `` do not call '' registry for additional protections . Robocalls to mobile phones already are illegal , she said . People still will be able to receive telemarketer calls if they give companies written permission to contact them . Nate Anderson , a blogger at Ars Technica , a technology site , cheered the amendments but said many calls are illegal even without the new amendments . `` Most of the robocalls received by people in the office here are already illegal to do begin with -- pitches for time shares and bogus car warranties top the list of such calls , '' he wrote .
An effective ban on automated telemarketing calls begins 2013 . Companies violating the rule face fines of $ 16,000 per call . These include political calls , ` ` informational '' calls and bank calls .