On February 15, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved amendments to the rules and regulations implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The adopted Report and Order and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking implemented new rules regarding revocation of consent to robocalls and robotexts — clarifying rulings from 2012 and 2015. The FCC’s goal was to “strengthen consumers’ ability to revoke consent so that it is simple and easy.”

The approved amendments will go into effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register:

• Consumers may revoke consent to robocalls and robotexts “in any reasonable manner” — including use of the words: stop, quit, end, revoke, opt out, cancel, or unsubscribe.
• Callers must honor do-not-call and revocation requests “as soon as practicable” — no later than 10 business days after the request.
• Text-senders may send one text message in response to a revocation request confirming or clarifying the scope of the request within five minutes.

The FCC also requested comment on whether the TCPA applies to robocalls and robotexts from wireless providers to their own subscribers. Recognizing that wireless providers and subscribers have a unique relationship, the FCC also requested comment on whether subscribers have consented to robocalls and robotexts based on that unique relationship and whether subscribers may revoke that consent.

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