Text Message Senders Must Comply With The Telephone Consumer Protection Act

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) today issued an advisory clarifying restrictions on autodialing specifying that robotexts are subject to the same limitations as robocalls

The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau issues this Advisory to promote understanding of the clear limits on the use of autodialed text messages, known as “robotexts.” The FCC is committed to protecting consumers from harassing, intrusive, illegal, and unwanted robotexts to cell phones and other mobile devices. 

The FCC has stated that the restrictions on making autodialed calls to cell phones encompass both voice calls and texts.  Accordingly, text messages sent to cell phones using any automatic telephone dialing system are subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (“TCPA”). The term “automatic telephone dialing system” (or “autodialer”) covers any equipment that has the capacity to store or produce numbers to be dialed and dial them without human intervention but does not need to have the present ability to do so.

The TCPA places limits on autodialed calls and prerecorded- or artificial-voice calls to wireless numbers; emergency numbers; guest or patient rooms at hospitals, health care facilities, elderly homes, or similar facilities.

Source: FCC advisory