Companies can either comply with the FCC’s STIR/SHAKEN protocols or submit a robocall mitigation plan to the FCC that outlined specific steps the company was taking to avoid originating illegal robocall traffic.

BPO Innovate submitted a document detailing the steps it had taken to avoid originating illegal robocall traffic, but the FCC found the plan deficient because it did not identify any specific reasonable steps that company had taken to avoid originating illegal robocall traffic. The company was given 14 days to correct the deficiencies, but the FCC never heard back from the company. The certification was deemed to be deficient because BPO Innovate never responded to traceback requests and the plan it submitted “includes no description of any reasonable steps the Company has taken to avoid originating illegal robocall traffic,” the FCC said in its order removing the company from the database.

Earlier this year, the FCC again reached out to the company and ordered it to correct the deficiencies, but again the company did not provide a response to the FCC.

BPO Innovate is the 14th company that the FCC has removed from the Robocall Mitigation Database. The company will remain out of the database until it demonstrates to the FCC that it has addressed and resolved all of its deficiencies.

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Scott Rhodes, who lives in Idaho and Montana, accused of making unlawful robocalls to consumers in a number of states. The calls displaced inaccurate Caller IDs, indicating they were local numbers, which induced recipients to answer the calls and listen to recorded messages. The messages were highly inflammatory and disturbing, according to prosecutors, and were directed at specific communities. One example was a spoofed robocall to hundreds of residents in an Iowa town in the aftermath of a woman’s murder.

The Federal Communications Commission traced the calls to Rhodes and imposed a $9.9 million penalty against him in January 2021. Later that year, the Justice Department sued Rhodes to recover the penalty and obtain an injunction. In October of last year, prosecutors moved for summary judgment, which was awarded last week, ordering Rhodes to repay the full amount of the fine.

“When persistent and malicious robocallers break the law, it takes strong partnerships like this one to bring them to justice,” said Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel of the FCC in a statement. “I thank the Justice Department team, in conjunction with FCC lawyers, for vigorously pursuing this penalty. I especially want to thank FCC investigators for tracking down this robocaller and building such a strong case. Our agency will continue to relentlessly pursue these unwanted robocalls and build on our multi-faceted collaborative approach with law enforcement agencies at home, as well as the growing partnerships we’re fostering with our counterparts abroad, so that we can quickly and effectively neutralize bad actors.”

Comments on the proposed rule are due by April 4.

Wireless carriers argue that their communications with customers should be exempt from the TCPA because there is no additional cost to the customer, but the language of the TCPA and subsequent rules and orders are not explicitly clear whether this situation is an exception to the TCPA or not, the FCC noted. Thus, the Commission is looking to answer whether the unique relationship between carriers and their customers. Should that be the case, the FCC wonders, does the exemption apply to other types of telemarketing calls.

This also brings into question whether carriers need to honor revocation or opt-out requests from their customers.

Finally, the FCC is looking at a request from the National Consumer Law Center to include an automated opt-out mechanism on every call that contains an artificial or pre-recorded voice. Along with determining whether such a change is necessary, the Commission is also curious about the compliance costs associated with this change and if there are any other alternatives that would minimize the compliance burden on smaller companies.

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