Zoeller opposes robocalling by student-loan debt collectors

He said such calls pester people and run up consumer cellphone bills. Among the biggest categories of consumer complaints his office receives are complaints about incorrect or harassing debt-collection calls.

Zoeller said an obscure provision of the budget deal signed into law Monday amends a 1991 law through which Congress and the Federal Communications Commission long have banned the use of auto-dialer machines to call consumers without their permission. The provision grants an exception to the auto-dialer ban for debt collectors for federal student loans, permitting them to robocall cellphone numbers and play messages.