The Federal Communications Commission said Monday that Sprint Corp. will pay $7.5 million in the largest Do-Not-Call settlement to date, for failing to honor customer requests to opt out of phone and text marketing communications.
The FCC said Monday that Sprint will also put a two-year plan in place to make sure it complies with commission requirements. The settlement follows one in 2011 in which Sprint paid $400,000 for complaints that it made telemarketing calls to customers who had requested to be placed on the company's Do-Not-Call list.
Sprint Corp. says the issues with Do Not Call were due to "technical and inadvertent human errors," which the company reported to the FCC. The Overland Park-based company also says that it has made "significant" capital investments to improve its Do Not Call/text oversight and compliance.
Since 2003, Americans have been able to opt out of receiving most telemarketing calls by putting their phone numbers on the National Do-Not-Call Registry. Consumers can register their phone numbers on the Do-Not- Call registry for free, and they will remain on the list until the consumer removes them or discontinues service.
