For the fifth time, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has pushed back the deadline for implementing the identity theft related regulation called the Red Flags Rule. This rule will make it compulsory for financial institutions and other organizations to develop and implement written procedures for detecting and preventing online identity theft.

The earlier deadline for implementing for enforcing these rules was June 1 which has now been postponed to Jan. 1, 2011.

FTC pointed out in a statement that the delay was due to request from many Congress members who are trying to limit the scope of the Red Flags Rule. It hoped that the Congress will be able to quickly resolve these issues apart from addressing unintended consequences of the legislation.

FTC had earlier also delayed the deadline for these rules four times. The most recent instance was in October 2009 when the deadline was moved from Nov. 1 to June 1 of this year.

The latest extension has come after the American Medical Association (AMA), along with the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) and the Medical Society of the District of Columbia (MSDC) filed a case against FTC demanding that doctors should not be included in the Red Flags Rule.

Even though the rule mainly applies to the banking sector but it was drafted liberally and unintentionally also covers doctors.