The US Federal Communications Commission has announced plans to create a "robocall mitigation scorecard" that would rate phone companies on how effectively they block illegal spam calls. The move is intended to give consumers clearer information about which wireless, wireline and VoIP providers are actually stopping robocalls, rather than simply checking whether providers have filed the correct paperwork, and to pressure companies into improving their efforts.

The scorecards could rate providers using a numerical scale, letter grades, or risk categories such as low, medium and high, drawing on data including call-blocking statistics, customer complaints and enforcement actions. The FCC says it wants to combine "conduct-based" metrics, whether providers have taken specific steps, with "outcome-based" metrics that measure real-world results, including how often legitimate calls get wrongly blocked. The proposal would cover domestic retail voice providers but exclude wholesale-only carriers, and the FCC is now seeking public comment on which data sources to use. Consumer advocates, including Public Interest Research Group's Teresa Murray, welcomed the initiative but voiced scepticism about the FCC's track record and questioned whether the data used will genuinely help consumers switch providers.