TCPA Compliance 101

The TCPA (Telephone Consumer Protection Act) regulates telemarketing practices and the use of automated telephone equipment in the United States. It was designed to restrict telemarketing calls, automated dialing systems, artificial or prerecorded voice messages, text messages, and faxes.

Key guidelines

Local businesses sending text messages should be aware of these key guidelines for staying compliant with TCPA:

• Obtain and keep record of explicit written consent before sending automated texts to consumers.
• Do not send text messages before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time.
• Provide clear opt-out instructions, and honor opt-out requests promptly.

Consent

Businesses must obtain explicit written consent from consumers before sending automated text messages. This consent must be clear and conspicuous, and it must include the consumer’s phone number and the purpose of the messages.

Consent must be obtained through a written methods, including online forms or text messages. In the case of online forms, the user must explicitly take an action to provide consent. For example consent may be provided through a checkbox, but it must be unchecked by default.

Business Hours

Businesses should only send text messages between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. local time. This ensures that consumers are not disturbed during late hours.

For two-way text messaging, businesses can also be expected to respond to incoming messages within a reasonable time frame, even if the incoming message was received outside of business hours. This helps to ensure that consumers receive timely responses to their questions or concerns.

Opt-Out

Businesses must provide clear opt-out instructions. These instructions should be easy to understand and should allow consumers to easily opt out of receiving future messages.

Opt-out requests must be honored immediately. Once a consumer opts out, the business should stop sending messages immediately. Businesses should also keep records of opt-out requests to ensure compliance with TCPA regulations.

It is important to note that businesses cannot require consumers to pay a fee or provide any personal information other than their phone number in order to opt out of receiving messages.

Enforcement

While the FCC is primarily responsible for enforcing TCPA, typically violations are enforced when consumers file private lawsuits. Standard violations can result in fines of $500, while knowing violation of TCPA can result in fines of up to $1500 per offending text message.

Because of the potential for high fines, it is important to ensure that your business is compliant with TCPA regulations. If you have any questions about TCPA compliance, please contact your legal counsel.