The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously yesterday to advance new proposals aimed at strengthening the Robocall Mitigation Database, the registry it uses to keep illegal callers off U.S. phone networks. The 3-0 vote on a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FCC 26-49) opens a comment period on rules that would raise filing standards for voice service providers and streamline the removal of bad actors from the database.
Why it matters: The RMD has become the FCC’s central chokepoint for illegal call traffic. All voice service providers are required to file in the database, and downstream providers may only accept calls from providers whose filings appear there and have not been removed through an enforcement action. For the collection industry, which depends on legitimate outbound calling and suffers when scammers impersonate legitimate businesses, changes to the database’s gatekeeping function are worth watching closely.
The details: The proposal would clarify which entities must file in the RMD, require more specific information about providers’ practices to prevent the transmission of illegal calls, and limit exemptions from filing requirements. The Commission is also seeking comment on measures to prevent providers that have been removed from the database, along with the individuals and entities that run them, from reentering under a new corporate identity.
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said fighting illegal robocalls remains the agency’s top consumer protection priority, and noted the Commission removed nearly 1,400 providers from the database last summer over deficiencies in their filings. “Every provider touching a call must know who it is doing business with and be held accountable for the traffic it is carrying,” Carr said in a statement accompanying the vote.
Commissioner Olivia Trusty, who also issued a separate statement, said the item builds on the Commission’s efforts to modernize its tools as scammer tactics evolve, while “avoiding unnecessary burdens on legitimate voice service providers and consumers.”
The American Bankers Association backed the proposal in a letter sent ahead of the vote, urging the Commission to require providers to file robust plans for keeping criminal callers off their networks and to hold providers accountable for following those plans.
The FCC concluded last year that some providers “have not demonstrated the requisite level of diligence” in keeping their database submissions accurate, complete, and current. Yesterday’s vote comes days after Carr joined Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Federal Reserve Vice Chair Michelle Bowman, and FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson for the inaugural meeting of the Payment Fraud and Scams Working Group.
The proceeding spans WC Docket Nos. 24-213 and 17-97 and CG Docket No. 17-59.
