FCC joins FTC in combating robocalls

Source: Connected Planet

The Federal Communications Commission has proposed restrictions on prerecorded outbound calls, also known as robocalls, which would strengthen similar restrictions issued by the Federal Trade Commission last year.

The FCC’s proposed new rules would take the form of revisions to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and would require telemarketers and other robocallers to get written consent from consumers before making robocalls.

Until now such consent was required only in the absence of an established business relationship. Consumers who previously contacted an organization for information or made a transaction with the organization during a certain time period are considered to have an established business relationship.

The new rules also would require prerecorded telemarketing calls to include an automated mechanism to allow consumers to opt out of receiving future prerecorded messages.

Although the FTC restrictions, issued in August as amendments to its Telemarketing Sales Rule, were similar, they did not include banks, politicians, charities and telephone companies, which are specifically called out in the new rules proposed by the FCC. The FCC noted, however, that its proposed new rules would not apply to emergency calls or to messages that deliver purely “informational” messages, such as those notifying recipients of flight cancellations.

The Commission asked for comments on whether its proposed revisions would benefit consumers and industry by creating greater symmetry between the FCC and FTC regulations and by extending the FTC’s standards to entities that are not currently subject to FTC rules.