BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act.
It’s designed to protect people against annoying, predatory calling practices.
The bill, which received a 429-3 vote, is similar to one passed by the Senate two months ago.
Congressman Brian Higgins, who co-sponsored the bill, said “Entities engaging in illegal robocalls are employing deceptive measures to trick the public and too often consumers are left frustrated and cheated. This bill puts greater protections in place for consumers and gives us better tools to go after those who abuse the system.”
From 2017 to 2018, the amount of robocalls made a staggering jump from 17 billion to 47.8 billion.
If enacted, the Stopping Bad Robocalls Act would would make it so phone carriers have to create free call authentication technology, so that people would be able to trust their caller ID.
Along with this, the bill would give both the FCC and law enforcement agencies more authority to penalize violators.
Those who make illegal robocalls or use misleading caller ID information could be fined up to $10,000.
