The new Amateur Service vanity call sign regulatory fee of $21.40 became effective on September 11. The FCC released a Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (R&O) on August 29, in which it recalculated the fee to $21.40 for the 10-year license term. The $5.30 increase represents the largest vanity fee hike in many years. In past years, new vanity fees did not become effective until 30 days after their publication in The Federal Register, which occurred on September 11.

The FCC reported there were 11,500 “payment units” in FY 2014, and that the vanity program generated an estimated $230,230 in FY 2013 revenue. The Commission estimated that it would collect nearly $246,100 in FY 2014 vanity call sign fees.

The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable when applying for a new vanity call sign or when renewing any vanity call sign designated as “HV” in the FCC’s ULS database.

As of October 1, 2013, the Commission no longer accepts checks — including cashier’s checks — for the payment of regulatory fees.  All payments must now be made by online ACH payment, online credit card, or via wire transfer. Any other form of payment will be rejected and returned to the applicant.