FCC Considers Rolling Back Some TCPA Requirements?

In a strange turn of events, after several recent attempts to strengthen the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the FCC has stated in a recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that it’s considering rolling back some TCPA requirements that it believes may be outdated. The FCC is seeking public comments about the potential changes before making any final decisions.

Eliminating Call Abandonment Rules

The FCC is proposing to eliminate the “four rings or 15 seconds” and the “3% abandonment rate” rules. The FCC’s logic used here is that a modern-day predictive dialing platform’s technology has improved so vastly since the introduction of these rules, that perhaps they are no longer needed. They point out, however, that the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule also has similar abandonment requirements in place and ask the public if it makes sense to retain these rules in the TCPA

Clarification of Consent Revocation Rules

The FCC is proposing the deletion of the requirement of “a revocation from one, is a revocation from all” approach, where consumers may be receiving different types of messages from a company. This specific portion of the FCC’s Robocall Revocation Order was already delayed until April 2026. The FCC is also proposing that companies be able to specify the means to revoke consent, rather than leaving it open-ended to “any reasonable means.” 

Eliminating Company-Specific DNC Rules

In probably the most, “is this a really just a dream,” change being proposed by the FCC, they are suggesting that perhaps the need for a company-specific DNC list is outdated. The FCC notes that between the National DNC Registry and the FCC’s “robocall” revocation rules, that perhaps internal DNC lists are no longer needed. The FCC notes that the TCPA itself doesn’t require internal DNC lists, only that the Commission evaluate alternative systems.

Other Considerations

The FCC is also seeking public comment on:

• Artificial and prerecorded voice caller ID rules – eliminating the “900 number” and “local vs. long-distance references; and
• Revisiting fraud-alert call limitations – no longer restricting banks to use only the telephone number provided directly from the consumer.

The public comment period will close 30 days after being published in the Federal Register, with reply comments to follow. 

Conclusion

We expect that consumer groups will come out staunchly during the public comment period, against at least some of these proposed changes. As it relates to the elimination of a company-specific DNC list, it’s not clear what the FCC is thinking here. Obviously, there are a lot of numbers that are not on the National DNC Registry, and those consumers not on the list would presumably have no way to stop calls from specific companies. Additionally, when consumers are on the National DNC Registry, companies could continue to call when they have an established business relationship, even when the consumer makes it clear they don’t want any further calls.

Time will tell, but with some of the big hits the FCC has taken recently, it appears the agency is trying to be proactive in rolling back some of the rules it believes may be archaic.  

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