New measures by U.S. regulators could help thwart some of the billions of robocalls received in the U.S.

The Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday that it will vote in June on whether to let carriers block spam calls by default, which should mean that more spam calls are blocked. Right now, customers have to take the extra step of requesting tools from their carriers or downloading apps from other companies to help them weed out most unwanted calls.

An industry trade group hailed the move.

“The criminals that are scamming consumers with this flood of illegal robocalls must be confronted by industry and government head-on,” said Jonathan Spalter, president and CEO of USTelecom. “This is a big and bold proposal by the FCC that can bolster our industry’s cutting-edge call blocking and authentication efforts and do something important: stop unwanted calls from reaching consumers in the first place.”

The group notes that it heads  the Industry Traceback Group, which includes nearly 30 participants from across the wireline, wireless, VoIP and cable industries. The group “actively traces and identifies the source of illegal robocalls and coordinates with federal and state law enforcement agencies to bring perpetrators to justice.”

The rising volume of calls in the last few years, driven by how cheap and easy it is for scammers to call millions of people as well as weak enforcement, has created pressure on Congress, regulators and phone companies to act. The volume of calls has risen to roughly 5 billion per month, according to call-blocker YouMail, from 2.7 billion in November 2017. That’s when the government gave carriers explicit, although narrow, permission to block certain types of calls.

Many robocalls are not scam calls, though, but calls from debt collectors and telemarketers selling insurance, cruises and the like. It’s not clear if carriers would automatically block those calls, too, said Margot Saunders, senior counsel for the National Consumer Law Center and an expert on robocalls.

Under the proposed rules, the agency won’t require carriers to provide such services or mandate that the tools offered are free. Today, some of these apps cost extra money; others are free.

Key points
  • Voice service providers may offer opt-out call-blocking programs based on any reasonable analytics designed to identify unwanted calls and will have flexibility on how to dispose of those calls, such as sending straight to voicemail, alerting the customer of a robocall, or blocking the call altogether.
  • Providers should clearly disclose to consumers what types of calls may be blocked.
  • Voice service providers must provide sufficient information so that consumers can remain in the program or opt out.
  • Call blocking should not in any way interfere with our country’s emergency communications systems.

Source: FCC

“We certainly are encouraging companies to offer this for free,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said. He said he anticipates that companies won’t charge extra because it would cost less than the headache of dealing with robocalls and customer complaints about them today. He raised the threat of regulatory action “if the companies do not take the steps necessary to protect consumers.”

The agency also said Wednesday it’s making clear that carriers can let customers come up with lists of numbers that they will permit to call them. That means customers could tell phone companies that any number not on their list be automatically blocked.

“There is no doubt that this can only help, that it’s a good thing. My questions go to how much it helps,” Saunders said, referring to whether consumers would be protected from unwanted debt-collector and telemarketing calls as well as scams.

There are also bills in Congress addressing the robocall problem. A widely supported, bipartisan Senate bill would require carriers to verify that a number popping up on your caller ID is real. A big problem with robocalls is that many are “spoofed,” or faked to look like they’re coming from a number that matches your area code and the next three digits of your number, so you think it’s a neighbor and are more likely to pick up. The industry is working on deploying this long-in-the-works system, but it’s been a slow process. Pai has threatened regulatory action if it’s not done this year.

The Senate bill would also give the FCC more power to fine the people responsible for spam calls and puts together federal agencies and state officials to figure out ways to pursue criminal cases against robocall scammers, not just civil ones.