FCC Issues Order Limiting Call Volumes Permitted Under TCPA Exemptions

Just before the new year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a critical report and order implementing section 8 of the TRACED Act—specifically, the FCC has reviewed all of its previous content-specific exemptions under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) to provide the additional findings Congress required. Most importantly the FCC limited the call volumes permitted under four commonly-used exemptions, including a limit on call made to residential lines using an artificial or pre-recorded voice. Read on for more info on each of the four items.

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1. Non-commercial calls to a residence 

Citing the numerical limitations on the number of calls that can be made to a wireless number under the exemptions authorized by section 227(b)(2)(C), “we therefore amend our rules to limit the number of calls that can be made to a particular residential line pursuant to this exemption to three artificial or prerecorded voice calls within any consecutive 30-day period. We thus require callers to allow recipients of artificial and prerecorded voice message calls made under this exemption to opt out of such calls using either of the mechanisms described in our rules” (47 C.F.R. 64.1200(b)(2) and (b)(3).

2. Commercial calls to a residence that do not include an advertisement or constitute telemarketing

“We therefore limit the number of calls that can be made pursuant to this exemption to three artificial or prerecorded voice calls within any consecutive 30-day period.” “We also require callers to allow recipients of artificial and prerecorded voice message calls made pursuant to the exemption for commercial calls to opt out of such calls using either of the mechanisms described in our rules.”

3. Tax-exempt nonprofit organization calls to a residence

“We therefore limit the number of calls that can be made pursuant to this exemption to three artificial or prerecorded voice calls within any consecutive 30-day period. . .We also require callers to allow recipients of artificial and prerecorded voice message calls made pursuant to the exemption for tax-exempt nonprofit organizations to opt out of such calls using either of the mechanisms described in our rules.”

4. HIPAA-related calls to a residence

“We therefore amend our rules to limit the number of calls that can be made pursuant to this exemption to one artificial or prerecorded voice call per day up to a maximum of three artificial or prerecorded voice calls per week. . .We require callers to allow recipients of artificial and prerecorded voice message calls made pursuant to the HIPAA exemption to opt out of such calls using either of the opt-out mechanisms described in our rules."

Implementation and Effective Date: Six Month Period

The FCC notes that it recognizes that the implementations of the call volume limits might present a burden to those placing calls and, therefore, established a six-month implementation period starting on the date when the ruling is published in the Federal Register

You can find the full report and order here: FCC EXEMPTIONS REPORT AND ORDER