In the 1992 TCPA Order, the Federal
Communications Commission (Commission) implemented final rules
pursuant to the requirements of the Telephone Consumer Protection
Act of 1991 (TCPA), Pub. L. No. 102-243, Dec. 20, 1991. The TCPA
added Section 227 to the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, to
restrict the use of automatic telephone dialing systems
(autodialers), artificial or prerecorded messages, facsimile
machines, or other devices to send unsolicited transmissions. The
rules prohibit prerecorded message calls to residential lines
absent an emergency or the prior express consent of the called
party. Exceptions to this prohibition originally applied if the
call: (a) is not made for a commercial purpose; (b) does not
transmit an unsolicited advertisement; (c) is made by a calling
party with whom the called party has an established business
relationship; or (d) is made by a tax-exempt nonprofit
organization. In 2012, the Commission eliminated the established
business relationship exemption for calls to a wireless telephone
number or prerecorded telemarketing calls to a residential line,
and the elimination of the exemption became effective at the end of
2013. However, the other exceptions remain in place. In addition to
the remaining exceptions, the rules prohibit any call, absent an
emergency or the prior express consent of the called party, using
an automatic telephone dialing system or a prerecorded voice when
calling any emergency telephone line (including any “911” line and
any emergency line of a hospital, medical physician or service
office, health care facility, poison control center, or fire
protection or law enforcement agency), any telephone line of any
guest room or patient room of a hospital, health care facility,
elderly home, or similar establishment, or any telephone numbers
assigned to a paging service, cellular telephone service,
specialized mobile radio service, or other common carrier service
or any service for which the called party is charged for the call.
The rules further require that telephone solicitors maintain and
use company-specific lists of residential subscribers who request
not to receive further telephone calls (company-specific
do-not-call lists), thereby affording consumers the choice of which
solicitors, if any, they will hear from by telephone. Telephone
solicitors also are required to have a written policy for
maintaining do-not-call lists, and are responsible for informing
and training their personnel of the existence and use of such
lists. Moreover, the rules require that those making telephone
solicitations identify themselves to called parties, and that basic
identifying information also be included in telephone facsimile
transmissions. With respect to facsimile transmissions, the rules
ban the use of a telephone facsimile machine, computer, or other
device to send an unsolicited advertisement unless the sender has
an established business relationship with the recipient and the
facsimile number is voluntarily obtained in the course of the
established business relationship or the number is obtained from
the recipient’s public distribution of its facsimile number, and
the sender includes certain notification and disclosure information
in the transmission.
US Code:
47
USC 227 Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
With this submission, the
Commission used data from recent FCC Form 499-A filings and the
recent FTC’s Biennial Report to Congress to reexamine and
reevaluate the data in this supporting statement. Due to a
reduction in the total number of telemarketers and common carriers
because of changes and trends in the telecommunications
marketplace, there is a reduction in the overall cumulative totals
of number of respondents and responses, as well as the total of
cumulative annual burden hours, and annual “in house” costs.
Therefore, the Commission makes the following adjustments: The
annual number of respondents has decreased by -12,445, from 34,948
to 22,503 annual number of respondents; the annual number of
responses has decreased by -7,182,014, from 147,368,997 to
140,186,983 annual number of responses; the annual burden hours has
decreased by -59,300, from 666,138 to 606,838 annual burden hours;
and the annual total cost has decreased by -$1,094,400, from
$2,745,000 to $1,650,600. The Commission has no program changes to
this collection.
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.
Supporting Statement OMB 3060-0519 (revision) (2018.doc
Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, CG Docket No. 02-278