The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) was put in place in 1991 to protect consumers who were negatively affected by the growing occurrence of marketing calls. The act has many different restrictions that still have the power to protect consumers from modern telephone marketing techniques such as robocalls.
If you are feeling harassed and are being disturbed by constant marketing calls in the form of automated calls, it is important to understand your rights and take action in order to protect yourself.
What are the restrictions in place to protect consumers under the TCPA?
There are many rules that prevent telephone marketers being able to make calls at certain times. This means that they are unable to call a residence before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the call receiver’s local time zone. This can often become a legal issue when the caller is in a different time zone, and therefore, mistakenly breaks the law.
When a call receiver specifically asks a caller to stop calling them, the company must add them to an internally maintained “do-not-call” list. They must also respect the National Do Not Call Registry.
Restrictions to robocalls
Robocalls are often made by political parties, and they are exempt from needing to comply with the National Do Not Call Registry. This means that they can call any household. They must be prerecorded messages and they must provide contact details in order to be classed as legal.
If you are being inundated by robocalls or other types of marketing calls, it is important to take action and stand up for your rights.
Source: FCC, “Telemarketing and Robocalls,” accessed May 17, 2018
