WASHINGTON–In advance of yesterday’s oversight hearing by the Subcommittee on Communications and Technology on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), both CUNA and NAFCU sent letters reiterating its call that the FCC reconsider its implementation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
Both trade groups continue to petition for the agency to create a more robust reassigned numbers database to combat illegal robocalls from bad actors.
"CUNA has consistently pressed upon the Commission the urgent need to modernize its approach to the TCPA. Our efforts included filing a petition in September 2017 outlining how the FCC could provide credit unions with TCPA relief," the CUNA letter reads. "Specifically, we proposed several approaches the Commission could adopt to provide credit unions with greater ability to communicate with member-owners about information they want and need."
The Commission began reexamining its TCPA interpretation after the D.C. Circuit challenged the legality of the 2015 Omnibus TCPA Declaratory Ruling and Order issued by the FCC. In response to a Request for information (RFI), CUNA asked the Commission consider:
- Revising its reassigned number framework by defining the “called party” as the “intended recipient”
- Identifying reasonable methods to revoke consent
- Granting the petition filed by the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform and clarify the definition of an “automatic telephone dialing system”
- Granting our petition and eliminate antiquated distinctions between cell phone and land lines
CUNA’s letter also recommended a more centralized approach by creating a single, comprehensive database of reassigned numbers.
NAFCU’s Input
In its letter, NAFCU pointed to the recent decision from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in ACA International v. FCC and noted the FCC has taken steps to gather information from the industry regarding its approach to defining terms and establishing liability under the TCPA.
“For example, the court struck down the FCC's definition of ‘autodialer’ as outlined in its 2015 Declaratory Ruling and Order, so the FCC must now develop a new standard that better balances consumer protection with the needs of credit unions and other entities seeking to contact their consumers with important information,” NAFCU wrote.
“We ask you to urge the Commissioners to adopt the approaches suggested in the letters so that credit unions may communicate important information to their members without fear of inadvertently violating the TCPA,” NAFCU concluded.