FCC Issues Important New Ruling on VRS With Retroactive Impact, Issues Related Demand Letters and Withholding Payments

On February 25, 2010, the FCC issued a Declaratory Ruling addressing certain types of calls that are not compensable under the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) program administered by the FCC. The Declaratory Ruling applies to all providers and is purported to clarify prior rules the FCC believes have been clear, thereby making its applicability retroactive.

Although Purple agrees with the objectives of the FCC; 1) to ensure the integrity of the TRS Fund; 2) to eliminate potential "double dipping" opportunities for providers who employ the deaf and who also use their services in the performance of their work-related obligations; and 3) the need for clarification of the types of calls that are compensable from the TRS Fund, Purple does not concur with the recent actions that the FCC has taken in the name of achieving those objectives.

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