FCC Proposes New Do Not Call Rules Barring Automated Dialing Of Emergency Response Facilities

Originally published May 25, 2012

Keywords: FCC, do not call registry, public safety answering points, PSAPs, automatic dialing, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, TCPA

On May 22, 2012, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to implement certain provisions of the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (Tax Relief Act). The Tax Relief Act requires the FCC to create a Do Not Call registry for telephone numbers assigned to emergency response facilities, known as public safety answering points (PSAPs), and to prohibit the use of automatic dialing equipment to contact those numbers. The Tax Relief Act establishes monetary penalties between $10,000 and $100,000 per call¹ for entities that use automatic dialing equipment to contact PSAPs, and between $100,000 and $1 million for entities that disclose or disseminate registered numbers.