TELEPHONE CONSUMER PROTECTION ACT (TCPA)

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act was passed in 1991. The Federal Communications
Commission rules and regulations implementing the Act went into effect on December 20, 1992.  

A court challenge to parts of the Act ultimately failed.

The most significant of the TCPA regulations concern commercial solicitation calls made to residences.

Those making the calls are required to:
 

· Limit the calls to the period between 8 AM and 9 PM.
· Maintain a “do not call list".
· Refrain from soliciting anyone on the "do-not-call" list ten years.
· Have a clearly written do-not-call telemarketing policy.
· Make the telemarketing policy available to anyone upon request.
· Have a clearly defined training program for anyone engaged in telemarketing.
· During the call disclose a telephone number or address where the seller may be contacted.
· During the call disclose the individual telemarketer's name and the name of the company
  on whose behalf the solicitation is made.
All "do-not-call" requests are to be maintained by phone number by the company on whose behalf the call is made. The entity on whose behalf the solicitation call is made will be liable for any violations of the rules.

The “do not call” request must also be honored by any affiliate or subsidiary of the company if there is a reasonable expectation on the part of the consumer that the request would apply also to the affiliate or subsidiary.

A call is exempt from the TCPA if the call:

· Is made by a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
· Is not made for a commercial purpose.
· Does not include an unsolicited advertisement, even if it is made for a commercial
purpose.
· Is made to a consumer with whom the calling company has an established business
relationship. HOWEVER, this relationship cannot be established merely by a prior solicitation call.
The customer ends this exemption when he or she requests that no more calls be made.
Other important provisions of the TCPA include:
· A ban on autodialers and artificial or prerecorded voice messages programmed to call any
emergency phone lines (including 911 numbers, hospital emergency lines, physicians or
medical service lines, health care facilities, poison control centers, fire protection, or law
enforcement agencies), pagers or cellular phones, or a call for which a charge is made to
the calling party.
· A prohibition against the use of artificial or prerecorded voice messages to call a residence
except in cases of emergency or if the caller has received prior express consent. (Such
calls to businesses are not prohibited).
· A prohibition against the use of an autodialer to engage two or more lines of a multi-line
business.
· A requirement that anyone using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice
message to call any number must state the identity of the caller at the beginning of the
message and give the address and phone number of the caller during the call.
· A ban on the use of fax machines for unsolicited commercial advertisements ("junk faxes") to either residences or businesses. A court challenge to this provision failed. (For more info on junk faxes link HERE to Junkfaxes.org)
This is a brief synopsis of the requirements of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA)
and should not be construed in any way as providing legal advice on compliance with the Act.

A booklet on the TCPA is available on the FCC web site in the Consumer Protection Section. It is entitled, “What You Can Do About Unwanted Phone Calls and Faxes”.

For a complete copy of the TCPA and the FCC order implementing the Act order from:
International Transcription Services, Inc., 1231 20th
Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036.
(202) 857-3800.

Refer to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and the Report and Order in FCC Docket Number 92-90, October 16, 1992. (In the matter of Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991.