Consumers Win in the Fight Against Robocalls

Lawmakers in New York are taking a firm stand against robocalls in New York and it's consumers who will benefit in the long run. 

On the heels of a record breaking number of robocalls in 2018 (read RingBoost's article on Robocall Statistics in 2018 for more information), New York Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblywoman Yuh-Line Niou announced the Robocall Prevention Act in Albany this week. The legislation comes none too soon, as the problem of robocalls is particularly severe in the state of New York. The city of Buffalo had more than 50 million robocalls last month (February 2018) while New York City had 162 million.  The bill introduced this week aims to prevent those robocalls from being made to any telephone number owned by people in New York, unless consumers have provided their consent or if it is for the purpose of emergency notification. The Robocall Prevention Act essentially requires cell phone carriers to make their call-blocking technology available to all New Yorker's free of charge.  The legislation, if approved, would also provide the state Attorney General with enforcement powers, authorizing civil penalties of up to $2,000 per robocall and up to $20,000 for calls placed in violation of the law within a 72-hour period. Robocalls are obviously a very severe problem. If you’re looking to stop or at least reduce automated robocalls to your home, business or cell phone, RingBoost recommendeds signing up for the Do Not Call Registry and reviewing our helpful recent article on 6 Ways to Reduce Robocalls to Your Cell Phone.