Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) of 1991, CG Docket No. 02-278
Revision of a currently approved collection
No
Regular
Approved without change
09/26/2024
08/15/2024
table that charts list comparision
Inventory as of this Action
Requested
Previously Approved
09/30/2027
36 Months From Approved
09/30/2024
193,328,796
0
191,628,905
3,535,421
0
3,251,008
1,357,200
0
1,357,200
On December 30, 2020, the Commission released an Order in CG Docket No. 02-278, FCC 20-186, to implement section 8 of the Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act (TRACED Act). In doing so, the Commission amended the TCPA exemptions for artificial or prerecorded voice calls made to residential telephone lines so each satisfies the TRACED Actâs requirements to identify who can call, identify who can be called, and limit the number of calls that can be made under the exemptions. Specifically, the Commission adopted limits on the number of calls that can be made under the exemptions for non-commercial calls to a residence, commercial calls to a residence that do not include an advertisement or constitute telemarketing, tax-exempt nonprofit organization calls to a residence, and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)-related calls to a residence. In addition, the Commission required exempted callers to have mechanisms in place to allow consumers to opt out of any future calls.
On December 18, 2023 the Commission released an Order in CG Dockets No. 21-402 and 02-278, FCC 23-107, to better protect consumers from unwanted and illegal calls and texts. Specifically, the Commission made it unequivocally clear that texters and callers must obtain a consumerâs prior express written consent to robocall or robotext the consumer soliciting their business, from one seller at a time, and prohibited abuse of consumer consent by comparison shopping and other websites. In addition to the one-to-one consent requirement, the Commission also required that the consent must be in response to a clear and conspicuous disclosure to the consumer and that the content of the ensuing robotexts and robocalls must be logically and topically associated with the website where the consumer gave consent. The TCPA and the Commissionâs existing rules already place the burden of proof on the texter or caller to prove that they have obtained consent that satisfies federal laws and regulations. This new information collection does not change that requirement but may create a burden for website operators, including lead generators and comparison shopping sites, to modify their sites to ensure that consent is properly collected.
On February 16, 2024, the Commission released an Order in CG Docket No. 02-278, FCC 24-24, to implement new and modified rules to strengthen consumersâ ability to revoke consent to unwanted robocalls and robotexts. Specifically, the Commission codified new rules to make clear that revocation of consent can be made in any reasonable manner and modified existing rules to require that callers honor do-not-call and consent revocation requests within a reasonable time not to exceed 10 business days of receipt; and modified the exemption that allows package delivery notification robocalls and robotexts without consent to require that opt-out requests be honored within a reasonable time not to exceed six business days. Many of the requirements codified in this Order have been adopted in rulings dating back many years or even decades.
US Code:
47 USC 227
Name of Law: Communications Act of 1934, as amended
With this submission, the Commission has program changes to this collection to reflect new burdens associated with numerical limits and opt-out mechanisms imposed on calls made under the exemptions for non-commercial calls to a residence; commercial calls to a residence that do not include an advertisement or constitute telemarketing; tax-exempt nonprofit organization calls to a residence; and HIPAA-related calls to a residence as required by section 8 of the TRACED Act. Beyond those program changes, the Commission used data from recent FCC Form 499-A filings and the recent FTCâs Biennial Report to Congress to reexamine and reevaluate the data in this supporting statement. The total number of telemarketers has been reduced and the total number of common carriers has been increased based on this data. Taken together, these changes create significant increases in the number of respondents, responses, annual burden hours, and annual total cost. Therefore, the Commission has the following program changes:
The annual number of respondents has increased by 1,657, from 169,369 to 171,026 annual number of respondents; the annual number of responses has increased by 1,699,891, from 191,628,905 to 193,328,796 annual number of responses; the annual burden hours has increased by 284,413, from 3,251,008 to 3,535,421 annual burden hours; and the total annualized cost has not changed.
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 TCPA (2024).docx
Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, CG Docket No. 02-278