Robocall ruling reversal sought by advocacy groups

A coalition of consumer and privacy groups petitioned to reverse a ruling that the federal government and its contractors have immunity from fines related to robocalls.

The National Consumer Law Center, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Consumer Federation of America and U.S. PIRG are among dozens of advocacy groups seeking to reverse the July 5 ruling by the Federal Communications Commission.

Broadnet Teleservices, the National Employment Network Association and RTI International prompted the ruling by seeking clarification about whether the federal law governing robocalls applies to federal contractors.

“If the commission does not reconsider and change its ruling in this proceeding, tens of millions of Americans will find their cell phones flooded with unwanted robocalls from federal means of stopping these calls and no remedies to enforce their requests to stop these calls,” the National Consumer Law Center argued in the petition.

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