Federal Communications Commission Headquarters in Washington, D.C. (Source: Shutterstock)
The Federal Communication Commission on Thursday adopted a robocall rule that allows carriers to identify telephone numbers that should be blocked but attempted to address some of the concerns raised by credit unions and others who contend the policy would block legitimate phone calls.
In adopting the policy, proposed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, the commission agreed to establish a process in which callers, such as credit unions, could protest having their numbers blocked. Carriers would be required to resolve the dispute.
Credit union trade groups said the change is a step in the right direction, but added that they remain concerned about the overall policy.
Under Pai's plan, carriers would be able to identify the phone numbers from which consumers are being blasted with telephone calls. The carriers would have the power to stop calls coming from that number.
Telephone companies would be able to decide whether to charge consumers for the service.
During Thursday's meeting, FCC Commissioner Michael O'Reilly said he was concerned that "oversensitive filters" could result in legitimate calls being blocked. He said that the "wanted and unwanted" categories of calls are vaguely defined.
Credit union trade groups had mixed reactions to the amended policy.
CUNA Chief Advocacy Officer Ryan Donovan said the FCC recognized the "legitimate need for credit unions to contact their members to preserve their financial health and security," adding that CUNA will continue to work with the commission to fine-tune the policy.
However, Carrie Hunt, NAFCU's executive vice president of government affairs and general counsel said the trade group is disappointed that the agency adopted the rule without soliciting public comment.
"While the FCC's inclusion of language requiring phone companies to allow legitimate businesses to challenge erroneously blocked calls is a positive step, necessary and time-sensitive calls and texts would still be significantly delayed or prevented entirely as a result of this policy," she said.
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