MBA, Trade Groups Urge FCC Caution on ‘Robocalls’

Ahead of a meeting Thursday to consider new rules governing “robocalls,” the Mortgage Bankers Association and other industry trade groups urged the Federal Communications Commission to avoid an overreach that would ensnare millions of legitimate business calls.

The FCC issued a declaratory ruling May 16 (https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-357499A1.pdf) for consideration Thursday that would compel phone companies to block unwanted customer calls; it would also allow consumers to block calls not on their own contact list.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said in a news release that allowing call blocking by default could be a big benefit for consumers who are “sick and tired” of robocalls.

“By making it clear that such call blocking is allowed, the FCC will give voice service providers the legal certainty they need to block unwanted calls from the outset so that consumers never have to get them,” Pai said. “And, if this decision is adopted, I strongly encourage carriers to begin providing these services by default–for free–to their current and future customers. I hope my colleagues will join me in supporting this latest attack on unwanted robocalls and spoofing.”

However, MBA and the trade groups–representing health care providers, pharmacies, grocers, retailers, banks, credit unions and other financial services providers–while supporting the Commission’s goal to eliminate illegal automated calls, warned if the draft Declaratory Ruling is adopted as drafted, it would result in erroneous blocking of lawful calls, including urgent calls affecting consumer health, safety and financial well-being.

“Public safety alerts, fraud alerts, data security breach notifications, product recall notices, healthcare and prescription reminders and power outage updates all could be inadvertently blocked under the draft Declaratory Order, among other time-sensitive calls,” the MBA/trade group letter said. “Therefore, we urge the Commission to seek public comment on the draft Declaratory Ruling to avoid such unintended consequences.”

The letter noted blocking of such beneficial calls would harm consumers and be contrary to the public interest; it also would frustrate the purpose of requirements from other federal agencies and would be inconsistent with Congress’ longstanding intent that the Commission facilitate efforts to block only illegal calls and not lawful calls from legitimate business.

The letter also pointed out when Congress passed the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in 1991, Congress stated that it did not intend for the law to “be a barrier to the normal, expected or desired communications between businesses and their customers.” As recently as last week, the Senate passed the TRACED Act, the Commerce Committee report for which directs the Commission not to “support blocking or mislabeling calls from legitimate businesses” and instructs that the “FCC should require voice service providers to unblock improperly blocked calls in as timely and efficient a manner as reasonable.”

“We urge the Commission to seek comment on the provisions in the draft Declaratory Ruling prior to finalizing that Ruling,” the letter said. “This approach would invite public comment on approaches that the Commission can take to address illegal automated calls while minimizing the risk that consumers will miss important, often time-sensitive calls affecting their health, safety, or financial well-being.”

Joining MBA in the letter: the American Bankers Association; ACA International; the American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management; the American Financial Services Association; the Consumer Bankers Association; Credit Union National Association; Independent Community Bankers of America; the National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions; and the National Retail Federation.

The FCC hearing is open to the public. It begins at 10:30 a.m. ET at FCC Headquarters, 445 12th St. SW in Washington, D.C., room TW-C305 and can be accessed online at https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2019/06/june-2019-open-commission-meeting.