Published: January 2020

The FCC prepares to regulate providers’ efforts to curb annoying robocalls

The Federal Trade Commission received 3.78 million consumer complaints about robocalls in 2019, compared with 3.79 million in 2018. Congress passed the TRACED Act late last year, which aims to crack down on robocalls by requiring voice service providers to implement caller ID authentication technology, and directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to regulate the providers’ efforts. In preparation for its upcoming report on robocalls, advocates call on the FCC to take further action to hold voice service providers accountable in their efforts to stop annoying scam calls.

To ensure that consumers actually have effective protections against unwanted robocalls, Consumer Action joined advocates in suggesting steps the Federal Communications Commission can take to thoroughly evaluate the implementation and the efficacy of voice call providers’ call blocking measures, and take steps to remedy any gaps in protection. These measures include thorough provider reporting requirements, explicit descriptions and instructions for customers on how to use call-blocking and call-labeling mechanisms, and ongoing data collection to show how effective the providers’ efforts are.

Lead Organization

Consumer Reports

Other Organizations

Consumer Reports | National Consumer Law Center (on behalf of its low-income clients) | Consumer Action | Consumer Federation of America | National Association of Consumer Advocates | Public Citizen

More Information

For more information, please visit Consumer Reports.

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The FCC prepares to regulate providers’ efforts to curb annoying robocalls   (FCCRobocalls_1.pdf)