Luján Bill Would Let FCC Collect Robocall Fines

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2025 – Sen. Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., introduced a bill that would allow the Federal Communications Commission to enforce its own fines and penalties for robocall violation.

“Congress passed much-needed legislation to protect Americans through the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, but this legislation failed to provide the FCC with the legal authority to enforce the law,” Luján said in a statement Thursday. He said his bill would “empower the Commission to hold telecom companies accountable for robocalls that disrupt Americans’ lives.”

The legislation would allow the agency to initiate court proceedings to recover fines under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, provided the Department of Justice doesn’t take up the case within 120 days.

The DOJ is currently responsible for collecting those fines in court, but experts who work on the issue have told lawmakers delayed timelines at the department lead to little cash actually being collected.

Authority to collect robocall fines is something the previous FCC chairwoman, Jessica Rosenworcel, had repeatedly asked Congress for. She also wanted legislation to expand the definition of “autodialer,” which covers the technology the FCC can target under the TCPA and was narrowed by the Supreme Court in 2021, and access to Bank Secrecy Act information.

She said the transaction records governeed by the act would help the agency go after repeat scammers that set up multiple companies.

The FCC has been engaged in a yearslong game of cat and mouse with scam callers, consistently moving to expand authentication schemes and moving to blacklist and fine noncompliant providers. Last month, the agency expanded the requirement to block calls from do-no-originate lists across the call chain and proposed a $4.5 million fine for alleged robocall violations.

“Robocalls are the number one consumer complaint the FCC receives,” FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said at the agency’s February meeting. “Since I’ve joined, we have voted to approve an action to stop this menace at almost every meeting.”