DA 21-1110
Released: September 7, 2021

FEE FILER IS OPEN FOR PAYMENT OF
 FISCAL YEAR (FY) 2021 REGULATORY FEES  

FY 2021 REGULATORY FEES ARE DUE SEPTEMBER 24, 2021 

On August 26, 2021, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) released Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for Fiscal Year (FY) 2021, Report and Order and Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, FCC 21-98 (FY 2021 Regulatory Fees Report and Order).  This document is available for viewing at http://www.fcc.gov/regfees.  The Commission’s automated filing and payment system (Fee Filer) is now available for filing and viewing of FY 2021 regulatory fees.  Regulatory fee payments MUST BE RECEIVED by the Commission no later than 11:59 PM, Eastern Daylight Time, on September 24, 2021. The Commission has instituted a mandatory electronic payment policy, which means that licensees will not be able to make regulatory fee payments by check, money order, or cashier’s check.  Only credit card, Automated Clearing House (ACH), and wire transfer payments will be accepted.  Please make sure that your electronic fee payment is made and the transaction is complete by the due date of FY 2021 regulatory fees.  
  While FY 2021 regulatory fees will not become effective until the rulemaking is published in the Federal Register, regulatees, at their own discretion, may submit payments at any time before the FY 2021 regulatory fees due date.  

Commission licensees and regulatees should consult the FY 2021 Regulatory Fees Report and Order for specific information concerning regulatory fee payment obligations, the regulatory fee process, and regulatory fee requirements for payment.  The Commission also publishes industry-specific guidance in FY 2021 - Who Owes Fees and What Is My Fee, which can be found on the Commission website at http://www.fcc.gov/regfees.  

In the FY 2021 Regulatory Fees Report and Order, the Commission extended the streamlined filing procedures for fee waiver, deferral, and installment payment requests implemented in FY 2020 to FY 2021 for financial hardship reasons related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.  The streamlined procedures include: (1) directing regulatees seeking relief to file their requests by email to a dedicated email address, and (2) permitting regulatees to file a single consolidated request for waiver, deferral and/or installment payment.  A detailed description of the special procedures the Commission extended can be found in the public notice entitled Procedures for Filing Requests for Waiver, Reduction, Deferral and Installment Payment of FY 2021 Regulatory Fees Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic 
(Special Procedures PN) on the Commission website at http://www.fcc.gov/regfees. 

Section 9A(c) of the Communications Act requires the Commission to impose a late payment penalty of 25 percent of the unpaid amount to be assessed on the first day following the deadline for filing these fees. 47 U.S.C. § 159(c).
  Except as described in the Special Procedures PN, failure to pay regulatory fees and/or any late penalty will subject regulatees to sanctions, including those set forth in section 1.1910 of the Commission’s rules, See 47 CFR § 1.1910.
 which generally requires the Commission to withhold action on “applications, including petitions for reconsideration, any application for review of a fee determination, or requests for authorization by any entity found to be delinquent in its debt to the Commission.  In the case of partial payments (underpayments) of regulatory fees, the payor will be given credit for the amount paid, but if it is later determined that the fee paid is incorrect or not timely paid, then the 25 percent late charge penalty (and other charges and/or sanctions, as appropriate) will be assessed on the portion that is not paid in a timely manner.

REGULATORY FEES GUIDANCE
The following Fact Sheets, Public Notices, and website listed below are available at http://www.fcc.gov/regfees to help licensees with their regulatory fee obligations:
Fact Sheet: What You Owe—Cable Television Systems, IPTV, and DBS for FY 2021
Fact Sheet: What You Owe—Media Service Licensees for FY 2021
Fact Sheet: What You Owe—Commercial Wireless Services for FY 2021  
Fact Sheet: What You Owe—International and Satellite Services for FY 2021
Fact Sheet: What You Owe—Interstate Telecommunications Service Providers (ITSP) for FY 2021  
Fact Sheet: Regulatory Fee Exemptions for FY 2021, General Exemptions
Public Notice: Payment Methods and Procedures for Fiscal Year 2020 Regulatory Fees 
Public Notice: Procedures for Filing Requests for Waiver, Reduction, Deferral and Installment Payment of FY 2021 Regulatory Fees Due to the Coronavirus Pandemic 
Website: FY 2021 Regulatory Fees Information Look-up for Media Services, http://fccfees.com

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Licensees and regulatees should contact the Commission’s Financial Operations Help Desk with inquiries regarding regulatory fees at (877) 480-3201, Option 6, or email inquiries to ARINQUIRIES@fcc.gov.