Trades Urge FCC to Require Notification and Redress of Erroneously Blocked Calls

Congress was clear that the Commission’s rules should not result in the blocking of lawful calls. The Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act) requires the Commission to “ensure [that] robocall blocking services . . . are provided with transparency and effective redress options for . . . callers.” While the Commission has taken strides in recent months to begin implementing the TRACED Act, important, often time-sensitive, calls from legitimate callers continue to be frequently blocked and mislabeled. Important work remains to satisfy the Act’s statutory requirements.

For any redress mechanism to protect consumers and be “effective” under the TRACED Act, a business must know promptly that its calls are being blocked. We urge the Commission to require the blocking telephone company (Voice Service Provider, or the Provider) to notify businesses immediately that it is blocking their calls. Without a notification requirement, it will not be possible for a call-blocking service to provide “transparency . . . for . . . callers,” as the TRACED Act requires.

The Commission also should require a Voice Service Provider to remove an erroneous block promptly — no later than 24 hours after the Provider learns of the block. A legitimate business whose call is erroneously blocked cannot receive “effective redress,” as required by the TRACED Act, if removal of the block takes weeks or months.

Download the letter to read the full text.