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NAFCU on Friday asked a federal appeals court for leave to join an action challenging the Federal Communications Commission's order on Telephone Consumer Protection Act prohibitions for financial institutions' autodialed calls to account holders.

The order allows a narrow exemption for certain autodialed calls to address potential account fraud or identity theft. However, Carrie Hunt, NAFCU's senior vice president of government affairs and general counsel, says the order is too broad in its definition of what qualifies as an autodialer. As a result, she said, credit unions ultimately could cease important communications with members about their accounts over fear of inadvertently violating the rule.

"The NAFCU Board unanimously approved getting involved in the litigation against the FCC to help protect credit unions' right to communicate with their members and, more importantly, to retain the unfettered ability to alert them when necessary to protect their accounts and information," said Hunt.

NAFCU is seeking to become a party in a petition filed Sept. 2 by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit seeking a review of the FCC order or, in the alternative, to file an amicus brief. The FCC order responds to 19 petitions from various businesses and organizations that, among other things, sought clarification of FCC rule changes under TCPA that took effect in 2013.