Lawmakers could be violating robocall restrictions

Some members of Congress might be inappropriately robocalling their constituents' mobile phones. House members in both parties were a tizzy July 28 after confirming their telephone town halls could violate Federal Communications Commission robocall restrictions. While many in Congress have pushed for robocall restrictions to be tightened, a series of lawmakers suggested the rules should be relaxed or changed to accommodate their outreach. The issue emerged during a House Communciations Subcommittee hearing as lawmakers questioned FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on a new agency ruling adopted in July that aimed at cracking down on the calls -- which can include unwanted calls that are autodialed or prerecorded. "If I have a tele-town hall in my office, which I do, and there is some company that calls all those thousands of people in my district, are they now prohibited from doing this?" House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) asked Chairman Wheeler during the hearing. "Unless the consumer has asked to get [the call]," Chairman Wheeler replied. "The statute is very explicit." Chairman Wheeler said it was his view that that method of robocalling people's mobile phone to participate in a town hall is prohibited and always has been. The exception is if a constituent gave prior permission to be called. "Wow, That's interesting," Chairman Walden said. "That would be news to a lot of people."

Chairman Wheeler said the FCC's robocall rules are a strict interpretation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act passed by Congress in 1991. Robocalls to mobile phones in particular are barred except for a very narrow set of circumstances. However, those same informational calls to a landline phone would be permitted. The FCC clarified that Chairman Wheeler was referencing robocalls to mobile phones, when saying lawmaker practices could violate FCC rules. “The Commission’s recent robocall clarifications didn’t impose new restrictions on tele-town halls or Congressional outreach to constituents,” FCC spokesperson Will Wiquist said. “Since 1991, informational calls to landlines have been permitted without restriction, while such calls to mobile phones have required consumer consent,” he added. “As long as vendors for tele-town halls continue to adhere to the decades-old rules, use of these services should pose no issue.”