FCC Increases Liability for TCPA Violations

In creating the TRACED Act, Congress found a need for harsher restrictions surrounding enforcement actions taken against non-compliant callers. Congress gave the FCC 270 days to implement these new restrictions which are outlined in Section 3 of the Act. The FCC met this requirement in an ORDER last Friday by passing the following provisions:

1. The FCC is no longer required to issue a citation prior to imposing any penalties against illegal callers. The Commission can now impose a penalty at the first offense, when previously the penalties would only be raised on offenses after the receipt of a citation;
2. The penalty amount for intentionally violating the TCPA is now raised to $10,000 per unlawful robocall in addition to any forfeiture penalty;
3. The statute of limitations is now extended from two to four years, allowing the FCC more time to pursue violators.

These new provisions broaden the reach of the FCC in penalizing companies and/or individuals for non-compliance. In addition to the FCC’s implementation of STIR/SHAKEN, these new rules promote an ongoing trend towards higher enforcement action in the telecommunications space.

These rules come into effect as of May 30, 2020.

Please reach out to us at connect@compliancepoint.com if you have any questions about this topic or how CompliancePoint can assist your organization with managing your marketing compliance.