WASHINGTON—While credit unions share concerns about unwanted robocalls to consumers, CUNA believes the Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence (TRACED) Act (S. 151) as presently drafted would negatively impact credit union-member communications.
CUNA offered to work with legislators to improve the TRACED Act in a letter sent to Senate Commerce Committee leadership in advance of the committee’s markup of S. 151 and other bills.
In its letter, CUNA said regulations implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) are causing confusion for credit unions seeking to inform members of important account information without threat of legal action. The trade group reminded it has been working with the Federal Communications Commission and Congress to find a solution, the trade association stated.
CUNA said its position is that in its current state, the TRACED Act would “expand that threat of litigation by extending the period for a cause of action and increasing the penalties available under the TCPA without first providing a statutory exemption for legitimate businesses seeking to relay information to their existing customers.”
Exception is Sought
The bill also seeks to enact a safe harbor for telecommunications providers that misidentify legitimate calls for the purposes of blocking them without establishing protections to minimize the harm to legitimate businesses or providing them with any meaningful mechanism for recourse.
“Given these consequences, CUNA and our credit union members do not support the passage of the TRACED Act as introduced,” the letter reads. “Instead, we urge you to work with us to craft an exception to TCPA that properly recognizes the distinction between unwanted robocalls and legitimate business communications.”