Compliance deadline still up in the air pending finalization of operational details

Late last year we reported on the FCC’s adoption of new rules establishing a “do-not-call” registry for Public Safety Answering Points (PSAP’s). PSAP’s, of course, are places where your 911 is answered; the phones there are associated with conventional 10-digit telephone numbers which are accessed when you dial 911 for emergency assistance. The new registry is part of a Congressionally-mandated system intended to prevent automatically-generated marketing calls – the dreaded “robocalls” – from being made to PSAP numbers.

As noted in our earlier post, noncommercial TV and radio stations which use automatic dialing equipment in connection with their fund-raising activities will need to be careful to comply with the new rules. Historically, charitable and political organizations have been allowed to call numbers on the FTC’s “Do Not Call” list because their calls are deemed to be noncommercial and, thus, entitled to greater First Amendment protection. But the FCC’s new PSAP Do-Not-Call regime does not include any such exemption. Since it does impose very serious penalties for violations, attention should be paid by anyone using automatic dialing equipment.

While the PSAP Do-Not-Call rules were adopted by the Commission last October, they did not become effective immediately. That’s because some aspects of those rules needed first to be run through the Paperwork Reduction Act drill at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). According to a notice published in the Federal Register, however, OMB has now signed off on the rules (principally, Section 64.1202). As a result, they have become effective as of March 26, 2013.

But just because the underlying rules are now effective does not mean that the PSAP Do-Not-Call registry is yet up and running. In its Federal Register notice, the Commission advises that, “[o]nce the operational details of the PSAP Do-Not-Call Registry have been finalized”, the Commission will be issuing a public notice alerting affected entities of the date by which compliance must begin. Check back here for updates.