Federal Communications Commission	"FCC/DA  XX-XXX"


DA 20-1484
Released: December 16, 2020


MEDIA BUREAU ANNOUNCES ELIMINATION OF ACCEPTANCE OF PAPER FILED FCC FORM 327 AND PROCEDURES FOR ELECTRONC FILING 


By this Public Notice the Media Bureau announces that it will no longer accept FCC Form 327 in paper format.  Rather, such forms and any associated fees must be submitted electronically, as detailed below.

Submission of the Application for Cable Television Relay Service (CARS) Station License FCC Form 327 for new CARS licenses and modifications of existing CARS facilities must now be made in electronic format by email to the following dedicated email box:  form327@fcc.gov.  

In addition, fees associated with such CARS applications must now be remitted electronically as well.  Section 1.1104 of the Commission’s rules provides a schedule of fees for applications and other filings processed by the Media Bureau. 47 CFR § 1.1104; Amendment of Part 1 of the Commission’s Rules, MD Docket No. 20-64, Report and Order, FCC 20-172 (Dec. 10, 2020).
 With the modernization of the Commission’s procedures, the Commission has found that electronic payment of fees for applications and other filings processed by the Media Bureau reduces the agency’s expenditures (including eliminating the annual fee for the bank’s services) and the cost of manually processing each transaction, with little or no inconvenience to the Commission’s regulatees, applicants, and the public. See Treasury Financial Manual, Bulletin No. 2020-04, “Agency No-Cash or No-Check Policies,” released on November 4, 2019 (explaining the circumstances under which agencies may decide not to accept payments made in cash or by check), available at https://tfm.fiscal.treasury.gov/v1/bull/20-04.pdf (last visited December 16, 2019); see also https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-06-16/pdf/2011-15181.pdf.
 Applicants shall remit the required fee using the Commission’s designated payment system, Fee Filer, which is accessible through the Commission’s website at https://apps.fcc.gov/feefiler/login.cfm.  Upon making payment, applicants must submit an electronic copy of the proof of payment, such as a PDF of the automatically generated remittance notification, along with the Form 327 for final processing.  Failure to include documentation demonstrating proof of payment may result in rejection of the application or a request for additional information.  Renewals of CARS Licenses should continue to be made through the Cable Operations and Licensing System (COALS) system at https://www.fcc.gov/coals/.

For further information contact Gloria Conway, Industry Analysis Division, Media Bureau, 202-418-7001, or gloria.conway@fcc.gov.  Press inquiries should be directed to Janice Wise, Janice.Wise@fcc.gov, at (202) 418-8165.


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