(Photo Credit: T-Mobile)
New bill to enforce and reduce robocalls
Have you been the victim of an unwanted call or unfamiliar number several times a day? Robocalls are on the rise, and data reveals that Americans received over 5 billion robocalls just last month. Thankfully, consumers can breathe a sigh of relief because advocates are pushing for new federal legislation against robocalls.
The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed the “Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act,” or “TRACED Act.” If passed into law, the bipartisan bill would create new technologies to identify robocalls before they reach a person’s phone.
The Act is meant to protect consumers from unwanted robocalls and improve the accuracy of the caller-ID displayed. Service providers such as AT&T would be required to create a caller-ID program for unauthenticated phone calls that would target unauthenticated phone numbers. It wouldn’t entirely block subscribers from receiving calls from unfamiliar numbers, but it would reduce the number of unwanted calls.
But new technologies and services don’t come free, and consumers may see a rise in their phone bill rates because it will cost the carrier money to install the anti-robocall system.
The final bill will go to the Senate and once passed there, it will go to President Donald Trump.
By: Maytinee Kramer
