The FCC wants to revise the rules under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act in an effort to clamp down on telemarketing robocalls. The proposals would give consumers the upper hand in determining whether or not they receive the calls. The FTC is also implicated in the move.
The FCC said the move brings it in harmony with more restrictive rules already in place at the FTC, and extends the tougher regulations to a few industry categories beyond FTC’s reach, including telephone companies, airlines, banks, and insurance companies.
The proposals would force companies using the technique to get prior written permission from consumers to send a robocall to their phone, even if there is a prior business relationship, and would require them to make it easy to opt out.
Use of the technique by tax-exempt and political organizations currently exempt from Do Not Call rules would not be affected, and a new category involving federally-regulated health-care related messaging, would be added to the exempt list.
