The new FCC regulatory fee of $16.10 to apply for an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will go into effect Friday, August 23, when the new regulatory fee schedule will appear in the Federal Register. Earlier this year the FCC had proposed upping the vanity call sign fee from its current $15 to $15.20, but in the Report and Order in MD Docket 13-140, released August 12, the Commission offered no explanation for the higher fee.

In another change, starting in FY 2014, the FCC will require that all regulatory fee payments be made electronically.

The R&O ordered a broad schedule of new fees and waived the usual 30-day waiting period following Federal Register publication, because it feared there would not be time for FY 2013 fees to become effective before the start of the new federal fiscal year on October 1.

The FCC says it expects $230,230 in revenue to cover the costs of administering the vanity call sign program. It anticipates 14,300 vanity call sign applications.