WASHINGTON–The Supreme Court has ruled 9-0 in favor of a credit union-backed position in involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s (TCPA) definition of an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS).
At issue in the case, Facebook v. Duguid was whether Congress intended to regulate equipment that has the capacity to simply store and automatically dial numbers as an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) when it enacted the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) in 1991. Credit unions have been actively pressing for clarification related to TCPA and contact with members.
“Today’s decision is a major victory for credit unions and their members, whose ability to communicate important information was hampered by an overly broad definition of an ATDS," said CUNA CEO Jim Nussle. "A clear, narrow interpretation of ATDS brings much needed clarity to both the regulatory and legal landscape.”
CUNA noted it filed an amicus brief in the case, expressing concerns about the TCPA’s effect on credit unions who may rely on technology systems to efficiently and effectively contact their members with important information regarding their accounts, including mandatory servicing calls and fraud alerts. The Court agreed, with no Justices filing dissenting opinions.