The Federal Communications Commission should delay implementing its call-blocking deadline, CUNA and other organizations wrote in an ex parte letter filed Tuesday. The letter is in response to a USTelecom petition to the FCC regarding requirements that voice service providers that block calls notify callers of the block using certain codes.

Specifically, the organizations urge the FCC to respond to the petition filed by USTelecom by delaying the deadline for implementing the call blocking notification. This would allow service providers—and their standards bodies—time to implement the codes ordered by the FCC in its December 2020 order, rather than creating multiple methods of notification.

“Extending the deadline for a maximum of six months will help alleviate concerns that providers may cease blocking unlawful calls because they cannot implement the Commission’s notification requirement by the current deadline,” the letter read.

CUNA believes this will ensure credit unions and other legitimate callers will receive a meaningful, actionable notification that their calls are being blocked.

The ex parte letter followed CUNA and the organizations’ meeting with the FCC’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau on the topic last week.