Proposed rule change would have ended the right to tell robocallers to “stop calling”
WASHINGTON – Today’s release of proposals approved Tuesday by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) show that the FCC walked back a plan to strip people of the critical right to tell telemarketers and robocallers to “stop calling” – a move advocates warned would cause unwanted call volumes to surge.
“The right to force telemarketers and robocallers to stop calling is an essential protection that helps consumers control annoying and abusive calls,” said Patrick Crotty, senior attorney at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC). “We’re pleased to see the FCC was responsive to concerns about unwanted calls and is refocusing on its congressional mandate to reduce unwanted robocalls and telemarketing.”
The FCC had proposed taking an axe to two important protections from unwanted and intrusive robocalls and telemarketing, even as U.S. telephone subscribers receive more than 2.5 billion robocalls a month. The proposal would have repealed the existing requirements that businesses stop robocalls and telemarketing calls when asked to do so and that prerecorded calls to cell phones include a simple, automated way to opt out of receiving calls.
A coalition of national consumer groups, including the National Consumer Law Center, urged the FCC to drop its proposal to eliminate these key protections against unwanted robocalls, calling the proposed changes “misdirected” and warning that they would lead to more intrusive calls.
Related Resources
- New Rules Will Make Robocalls Impossible to Stop, Oct. 22, 2025
- Coalition Letter to FCC Chairman Carr Regarding Critical Protections from Robocalls, Oct. 16, 2025
- Strategies for Reducing Scam Calls and Texts by Holding VoIP Providers Accountable, September 30, 2025
- Scam Robocalls: Telecom Providers Profit, June 1, 2022
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