Pallone, Local Entrepreneurs, & Consumer Advocates Call on Congress to Combat Robocalls

robokiller
June 19, 2018
Press Release

South Amboy, N.J. – Today at TelTech, a South Amboy startup working to combat robocalls, Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) and consumer advocates discussed the urgent need to enact legislation stopping unwanted robocalls. Pallone has introduced the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act (H.R. 6026), which will widen the definition of a robocall and strengthen enforcement provisions. The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act is in part a response to a recent D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals decision striking down the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) definition of an "automatic telephone dialing system". The ruling has made it more difficult to enforce current robocall prohibitions.

"There is nothing more annoying than repeatedly getting unwanted calls from people you don't know and don't want to talk to," Pallone said. "Despite previous efforts like the Do Not Call Registry, robocalls are on the rise. The Stopping Bad Robocalls Act will better restrict unauthorized robocalls by providing consumer protection agencies with new tools designed to stop the abusive practices robocallers are employing."

Last year, an estimated 18 billion unwanted calls were placed in the U.S., which represents a 76 percent increase in unwanted calls over the previous year. The staggering number of unwanted calls are returning huge profit margins for robocallers with every dollar spent by robocallers returning as much as $20 profit—a 2,000 percent profit margin. Though some robocalls are initiated by legitimate companies, robocalls are also used by scammers to steal from consumers, with more than 22 million Americans losing a total of $9.5 billion in robocall scams in 2016 alone.

South Amboy Mayor Fred Henry, South Amboy Council President Mickey Gross and Chuck Bell with the Consumers Union joined Pallone at TelTech. TelTech's app "RoboKiller" helps block and discourage robocallers from harassing citizens. TelTech Vice President Ethan Garr outlined the abilities of his product at the event.

The bill would curb the rise of robocalls by:

  • Amending the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to ensure that the FCC has the authority and the tools to take strong, quick action when they track down robocallers;
  • Allowing consumers to revoke consent they'd previously given to receive calls at any time and in any reasonable manner;
  • Creating a reassigned number database to put robocallers on notice when a telephone number they may have previously been authorized to call has been given to a new customer who hasn't authorized their call;
  • Limiting the number of robocalls exempted from the TCPA under the FCC's rules;
  • Requiring calls to have verified caller identification information associated with a call before the call can be put through; and
  • Extending the statute of limitations from one year to four years for callers violating robocall prohibitions.

Section-by-Section available HERE.

Bill text available HERE.