Greg Zoeller, attorney general for Indiana, testified Wednesday before the United States Senate Committee to advocate for further protection of Hoosiers from scam calls, unwanted calls and robocalls.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation heard Zoeller’s case at 10 a.m. He also focused on the effect of the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, according to a release from the attorney general’s office.
The TCPA was established to protect American citizens from automated telephone messaging equipment that could pester people about debt collecting and telemarketing, but a recent amendment details that robocalls to peoples’ cellphones would be legal if the debt is owned or guaranteed by the United States.
Before this amendment was approved, the TCPA declared all robocalls illegal.
Zoeller argued against this in his testimony and insisted that a nationwide ban on robocalls to cellphones needs to remain intact. He was joined by 24 other state attorneys general when he called on the committee to keep the ban intact.
“By carving out this exception, Congress has legitimized robocalls and opened citizens up to a barrage of unwanted or misplaced calls,” he said in the release. “Debt collection robocalls are aggressive, relentless and often inaccurate.”
Zoeller has been trying for months to pass the Help Americans Never Get Unwanted Phone Calls Act of 2015, which would repeal this recent amendment to the TCPA.
Zoeller is Indiana’s top consumer protection advocate, according to the release, and it isn’t surprising: the most common complaint received by the attorney general’s office is unwanted calls and robocalls, adding up to 14,000 complaints last year and around 50 complaints per day.
According to the YouMail National Robocall Index, 2.5 billion robocalls were made in the U.S. in March alone.
Zoeller concentrated his testimony on debt collection calls, which make up around half of the complaints his office receives.
“Of the nearly 700 debt collection complaints my office received last year, about 90 percent were because the caller was harassing the wrong person,” he said in the testimony. “Not to mention, the vast majority of robocallers are scam artists. Legitimizing some types of robocalls adds confusion and creates more opportunity for fraud.”
Zoeller also urged the Senate Committee to hold Do Not Call violators entirely accountable for their actions, according to the release. He suggested providing citizens with the legal tools to take action against those who do violate their telephone privacy rights.
Indiana does have a Do Not Call list at the state level, which can be accessed for sign-up at IndianaConsumer.com or by calling 1-888-834-9969.
“My attorney general colleagues and I work aggressively in our states to stop unwanted, harassing calls to peoples’ landlines and cellphones,” Zoeller said in the release. “Our citizens continue to file complaints that they greatly object to these calls and I urge Congress to stop allowing loopholes that weaken state efforts to serve and protect consumers.”
Anicka Slachta
