On December 3, 2021, the FCC adopted a Consent Decree between the Enforcement Bureau and CaptionCall, LLC to resolve investigations into whether CaptionCall violated the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) rules by providing incentives to hearing health professionals to refer users for service, reporting costs associated with these unlawful practices to the TRS Fund Administrator for reimbursement, and failing to collect, from each user, documentation required to validate identity and attest to the user’s eligibility to use Internet Protocol Captioned Telephone Service (IP CTS).
Under the Consent Decree, CaptionCall will implement a comprehensive compliance plan, reimburse $28,000,000 to the TRS Fund, and pay a $12,500,000 civil penalty.
News Release:
URL: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-reaches-settlement-sorenson-and-captioncall-0
Word: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-378451A1.docx
PDF: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-378451A1.pdf
Text: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-378451A1.txt
Order and Consent Decree:
URL: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-reaches-settlement-sorenson-and-captioncall
PDF: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-21-1488A1.pdf
Text: https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-21-1488A1.txt
General information about TRS is available at www.fcc.gov/trs and about IP CTS at www.fcc.gov/ipcts. For further information, please contact Karen Johnson, Attorney Advisor, Enforcement Bureau, at Karen.Johnson@fcc.gov. Individuals who use videophones and are fluent in American Sign Language may call the FCC’s ASL Consumer Support Line at (202) 432-2275.