FCC Details Procedures, Relief Policies for 2020 Fees

The FCC intends to offer assistance in paying 2020 regulatory feeds "to regulatees experiencing financial hardship” due to the pandemic, said a public notice Friday. That will include streamlined processes for requesting waivers, deferments and installment payments, but the agency can’t waive or reduce the payments for whole categories of licensees, the PN said. “The Commission must collect $339,000,000 in FY 2020 regulatory fees and it must fairly and proportionately allocate the burden of those fees among regulatees.” FY 2020 regulatory fees must be paid in full by Sept. 25, and requests for waivers, installment plans and deferrals are due then, the PN said. “Fee relief may be granted, but only to those regulatees ‘unambiguously articulating extraordinary circumstances’ outweighing the public interest in recouping the cost of the Commission’s regulatory services.” Industry-specific guidance on who owes and how to pay them can be found on the FCC’s website, said a second PN on payment procedures.