WASHINGTON—While NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger has congratulated new Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on his appointment, he has also raised the association’s continued concerns about the commission’s order on the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
“The FCC’s July 10, 2015, Declaratory Ruling and Order does more harm than good by making it extremely difficult for credit unions to contact their members about potentially fraudulent activity, identify theft, and data breaches,” Berger wrote.
“Based on discussions from our previous meetings with you, and your dissent in the Commission’s Order, NAFCU urges you, as chairman, to continue to take steps to fix the injustices caused by this Order and safeguard the original purpose of the TCPA. The TCPA should protect, not harm, consumers,” he continued.
Berger specifically noted NAFCU’s concerns about the order’s restrictive exemption for “free end user calls,” its overly broad definition of “automatic telephone dialing systems” and its antiquated distinction between mobile and landline phones.
NAFCU said it has long warned that the TCPA order is causing credit unions to cease important communications with members about their accounts over fear of inadvertently violating the rule. In September 2015, NAFCU joined a lawsuit seeking a review of the order. Oral arguments were heard in the case in October; the court could issue a decision at any time, NAFCU said.
President Donald Trump named Pai to be the commission chairman over the weekend. Pai was previously the FCC’s senior Republican commissioner; he was nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed in 2012. Pai previously worked as a Senate staffer and at the Justice Department.