What Is the TCPA?

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

TCPA Overview

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) is an amendment to the Communications Act of 1934 and passed by the Congress in 1991. According to the Federal Communications Commission, the amendment was a federal effort to regulate telemarketer solicitation calls — live or through the use of an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) — to consumers. Unwanted faxes and text messages later became problematic.

Beginning Efforts of the TCPA

The TCPA set up several new rules to control the trifecta of privacy invasion through ATDS calls, spam faxes, and text messages. One of the first requirements set up by the Act required a business that engaged in telemarketing to establish a protocol for maintaining their own internal do-n0t-call list specific to their organization.

In 2003, the National Do Not Call Registry became law. This gave consumers a way to register their landlines and cell phone numbers to state their preferences to not be contacted by companies with efforts to sell something or to collect debts.

Definition and Rules Concerning the Use of ATDS

An ATDS has the ability to store phone numbers programmed into its system and call those numbers automatically. Some of these systems have the ability to produce automatic calls using a sequential or random phone number generator. Often, these have been combined with a pre-recorded voice when someone answers the call.

The TCPA prohibits:

• Calls to any of the emergency telephone lines associated with fire protection, law enforcement, poison control, a hospital or other health care facility, doctor or physician’s service office. This includes to generalized emergency number known as 9-1-1
• Calls to the telephone line of any guest room or patient room of a hospital, health care facility, elderly home, or similar facility
• Calls to any telephone number assigned to any specialized paging, cellular, or radio service in which the called would be expected to pay for the contact through their contract

• No faxes could be sent a recipient without first having an established prior business relationship
• Access to the fax number was derived from established business relationship or public communication in which fax number was purposefully released.

Newly Established Rules

In 2012, rules were added to the TCPA which expanded its reach. Among those were that companies could no longer hide behind the “established business relationship” shield when it comes to robocalls. Prior written permission to receive calls must be given by the customer being contacted at all times.

Secondly, telemarketing companies have to have an opt-out menu as part of their call which allows the called to stop continual efforts to reach them.

Legal Consequences for Violating the TCPA

Those placing unsolicited ATDS calls to sell goods or services, attempting to collect debts, or sending unsolicited text messages and faxes can be taken to court.

Violations can result in $500 in statutory damages award for each call that is made to a plaintiff whose name appears on the National Do Not Call Registry and for each call made in violation of the TCPA. These penalties may be tripled if the person called is able to prove willful intent on the part of the caller to violate the law. Damage awards can and often do lead to substantial settlements in TCPA class action lawsuits.