WASHINGTON—NAFCU and CUNA, along with more than a dozen other trade associations, petitioned the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Thursday to clarify the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's (TCPA) definition of automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS).
NAFCU said it has engaged on this issue since the FCC issued the declaratory ruling, entering into ACA's suit in September 2015. The association noted it has consistently sought clarification related to the law as credit unions have ceased important communications with members about their accounts over fear of inadvertently violating the rule.
CUNA addressed the impact of the TCPA on CUs.
“The TCPA has had the unintended consequence of stifling credit unions’ ability to contact their members with important account information, all while financial regulators are urging financial institutions to ensure they’re using technology to make sure consumers are informed,” said Ryan Donovan, CUNA chief advocacy officer. “A major part of the solution is clarity on what constitutes an autodialer. We hope the FCC will grant our petition and take a much-needed step forward in providing credit unions and other financial institutions with clarity.”
The petition comes as a result of the March decision in the ACA International v. FCC lawsuit in which the court invalidated the FCC's definition of "autodialer" and rejected the commission's interpretation of when a caller violates the TCPA by calling a reassigned number. The lawsuit stemmed from a declaratory ruling and order the FCC issued in July 2015 providing limited exemptions under the TCPA for financial institutions making free autodialed calls to consumers.
In the petition, the groups request that the FCC issue a declaratory ruling to:
- Confirm that to be an ATDS, equipment must use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers and dial those numbers without human intervention
- Find that only calls made using actual ATDS capabilities are subject to the TCPA's restrictions