Robocall bill that aims to stop the annoying calls passes House with nearly unanimous support
WASHINGTON -- Those annoying robocalls are one step closer to being a thing of the past.
The House of Representatives passed a bill that increases fines and requires phone companies to take a bigger role in stopping robocalls.
Fines for robocalls would increase to $10,000 per call, if the bill becomes law.
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The bill also calls for phone companies to strengthen caller ID, making it harder for robocallers to impersonate real people, businesses or government agencies. Those companies must also offer robocall blocking features for free to all customers.
The bill passed the House with only three Congressmen voting against it: Justin Amash (I-Mich.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.).
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Supporters hope it will pass the Senate and be signed by President Donald Trump before the end of the year.
According to call-blocking service YouMail, more than 54 billion robocalls have been made in 2019. That's up from 6 billion in 2018.
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