FCC Poised To Get Tough on Rules on Automated Texts, Calls Under TCPA

“The Commission has received numerous petitions from companies – including bankers, debt collectors, app developers, retail stores, and others – seeking clarity on our consumer rules,” Wheeler said in a blog post Wednesday. “I intend to use these petitions as an opportunity to empower consumers and curtail these intrusive communications.” The FCC wants to make it easy for consumers to say no to robocalls, Wheeler said. “People won't have to fill out a form and mail it in to stop unwanted calls and texts,” he said. “Any reasonable way of saying ‘no’ is allowed.” The FCC also released a fact sheet on the proposed rules.

The TCPA proposal, to be circulated by Wheeler Wednesday, a day early, addresses some two dozen petitions seeking clarity on how the commission enforces the TCPA, FCC officials said. Commission officials said the agency receives thousands of TCPA complaints every month, some 215,000 last year. The draft ruling takes a tough stance, closing loopholes and guaranteeing that consumers can easily opt out from receiving robocalls and other calls prohibited by the TCPA, officials said. The rules would let carriers put in place technology for blocking robocalls and requires companies to purge their call lists of wrong numbers by a date certain, Wheeler wrote. The rules stipulate that an autodialer is specifically defined by its capacity to autodial and clarifies that the only robocalls or texts a consumer should receive are those that are free and provide a consumer with urgent personal, medical or financial alerts, Wheeler said.

“We will allow some very limited and specific exceptions, such as alerts to possible fraud on your bank account or a reminder to refill important medications,” Wheeler said. “But these exemptions do NOT include practices like debt collection and marketing, and consumers will have the right to opt-out of such calls.” The rules would let companies call a reassigned phone number only once, officials said

Among the TCPA petitions before the FCC, the American Bankers Association asked last year that time-sensitive informational calls, which are placed with no charge to the called parties, be exempted from the TCPA restrictions. The American Gas Association and the Edison Electric Institute asked the FCC to confirm that when a customer provides a phone number to an energy utility, it constitutes “’prior express consent’” to receive autodialed or recorded nontelemarketing informational calls (see 1503270020).

Blackboard, which offers a mass notification platform for schools, asked for clarity that its clients should be able to send texts on emergency weather closures, threat situations, event scheduling or “other important education-related information” without worrying about violating the TCPA (see 1505010037). Most of the petitions pertain to texts or calls to wireless subscribers and the TCPA rules are more restrictive on calls to wireless phones, FCC officials said.

Carriers Watching

Carrier officials said they're pleased the ruling apparently won't mandate that operators put in place anti-robocall technology. “USTelecom supports the FCC’s efforts to provide consumers with options to mitigate unwanted phone calls, and to take strong enforcement actions against illegal robocallers,” a spokeswoman said.

Wireless carriers already make apps available for blocking unwanted calls, said Scott Bergmann, CTIA vice president-regulatory affairs. “Collectively through CTIA as well as individually, wireless companies have sought to empower customers, through education and the development of tools to block fraudulent and unwanted communications,” Bergmann said. “We remain committed to working with all interested parties to help protect consumers while preserving choice and promoting innovation throughout the wireless ecosystem.”

Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., said in a statement that the FCC should move with care on the TCPA. “I appreciate the FCC’s careful consideration of changes to the TCPA’s rules with the intention of protecting consumers’ privacy and ability to block unsolicited calls," Markey said. "I remain concerned that the proposed exemptions to the TCPA will result in an increase in unwanted calls and texts to consumers without their consent.”

More than 320,000 consumers have signed Consumer Union’s petition calling on major carriers to offer subscribers free, effective call-blocking tools, CU said in a news release. “One of today’s big victories for consumers was the Chairman's recommendation that there is no legal basis for phone companies to prevent consumers from using call-blocking technologies,” CU said. “Some phone companies had maintained that they did not have the legal authority to offer call-blocking tools to their customers.”

Meanwhile, industry lawyers said they still view a Lifeline reform order as more likely than not at the June meeting. “I am hearing repeatedly that it WILL be on the June 18 agenda and what will be voted on will be both an order and a NPRM,” emailed a wireless industry lawyer. “All the signs are there,” said a former FCC spectrum official. Industry and FCC officials have predicted that Lifeline changes likely will circulate for the June open meeting (see 1505010051).