# Deficient Filings: Why the FCC Removes Companies From the Robocall Mitigation Database

Updated 2026-11-13. Source page: https://rmdready.datarabbit.com/guides/rmd-deficient-filing-removal

The FCC's Enforcement Bureau reviews Robocall Mitigation Database filings and removes the ones that stay deficient. Removal is not a fine. It takes the company off the U.S. telephone network.

## What "deficient" means

A certification is deficient when, plan included, it lacks information the rule requires. In its September 2, 2026 order the Bureau described the removed companies' certifications in exactly those terms and pointed to the requirements in 47 CFR 64.6305(d) through (f): the specific reasonable steps, the customer and upstream-provider procedures, the analytics description, the traceback commitment, and the rest. [The full list is here.](https://rmdready.datarabbit.com/guides/robocall-mitigation-plan-requirements)

## How the process runs

1. **An order to cure or show cause.** The Bureau names companies and directs each to fix the deficiencies in its certification and notify the Bureau, or to explain why its certification should not be removed. On March 24, 2026 it issued such an order to 35 companies.
2. **A window to respond.** A company that cures its filing and tells the Bureau stays in the database.
3. **Removal.** On September 2, 2026 the Bureau removed 14 of those 35. They had neither cured nor responded.

The Bureau has acted in larger batches as well. In August 2025 it ordered more than 1,200 providers removed for deficient filings.

## What removal does

- All intermediate providers and voice service providers must stop accepting calls directly from the removed company. The only exceptions are 911 calls and calls from public safety numbers.
- The company may not file a new certification without the prior approval of the Enforcement Bureau and the Wireline Competition Bureau.
- The removal is itself an enforcement action that the company, and any affiliate that files, must disclose in later certifications.

## Anyone can report a deficient filing

In January 2026 the FCC set up a mailbox for reports of deficient filings and asked that reports include the business name, FRN and RMD number and a short description of the deficiency. Filings are public, so a competitor or a downstream carrier can read yours.

## How to cure

1. Read your plan against the rule for your provider type. [The free check does this in about a minute.](https://rmdready.datarabbit.com/check)
2. Where the plan is missing a description of something you do, write it down specifically.
3. Where the rule requires something you don't do, put the practice in place first. Describing a practice you don't follow makes the filing false, which carries a $10,000 base forfeiture.
4. Update the filing in the portal. If you received an order, notify the Bureau as the order directs and keep to its deadline.

If you have received a show-cause order or a Notice of Apparent Liability, talk to communications counsel. This guide is not legal advice.

## Primary sources

- [47 CFR 64.6305, Robocall mitigation and certification](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/section-64.6305)
- [FCC, Robocall Mitigation Database Frequently Asked Questions For Filers (updated July 9, 2026)](https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/rmd-faq.pdf)
- [FCC Wireline Competition Bureau, Public Notice DA 26-72 (January 22, 2026)](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-72A1.pdf)
- [FCC Enforcement Bureau, Order DA 26-872, Robocall Mitigation Database Filers (September 2, 2026)](https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DA-26-872A1.pdf)
- [FCC, Robocall Mitigation Database filing instructions](https://www.fcc.gov/sites/default/files/rmd-instructions.pdf)
- [FCC Robocall Mitigation Database portal](https://fccprod.servicenowservices.com/rmd?id=rmd_welcome)

General information, not legal advice. RMD Ready is not affiliated with the FCC.