Newsroom

July 25, 2018

NAFCU shares TCPA concerns ahead of FCC oversight hearing

cell phoneA House Energy and Commerce subcommittee today holds an oversight hearing for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Ahead of the hearing, NAFCU sent a letter to highlight credit union concerns related to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and called on members to raise them to the commission.

NAFCU Vice President of Legislative Affairs Brad Thaler sent the letter to subcommittee Chairwoman Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Ranking Member Michael Doyle, D-Pa. In it, Thaler cited the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' March decision in the ACA International suit, which found the FCC's definition of autodialer to be arbitrary and capricious. The court also rejected the FCC's interpretation of when a caller violates the TCPA by calling a reassigned number.

NAFCU has called for the FCC to take a narrower approach to defining an Automatic Telephone Dialing System (ATDS) to ensure credit unions can contact members about their accounts without fear of inadvertently violating the TCPA. The association and its member credit unions also support creating a centralized reassigned numbers database managed by the FCC.

Since the D.C. Circuit’s ruling, two other federal appellate courts have shown a willingness to more narrowly define an ATDS and NAFCU has been engaged with the FCC to find a solution. NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai in May to discuss the commission's approach to TCPA rulemakings; the association has also sent official comments on various TCPA issues.

The Communications and Technology Subcommittee hearing is slated to begin at 1 p.m. Eastern. Pai and three FCC commissioners are set to testify.