Cybersecurity Policy Report, Parties Seek FCC Ruling on TCPA ‘Quiet Hours’, (Mar 4, 2025)

By Lynn Stanton

The Ecommerce Innovation Alliance and its fellow petitioners have asked the FCC to issue a declaratory ruling “to confirm that individuals who provide prior express written consent to receive text messages cannot claim damages under the TCPA for messages received outside the hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.”

The petition notes that the FCC “has previously clarified that calls made with prior permission do not constitute ‘telephone solicitations’ under the TCPA. Accordingly, Petitioners ask the Commission to reaffirm that the ‘Quiet Hours’ provision, prohibiting telephone solicitations between 9 p.m. and 8 a.m., is inapplicable if prior consent has been granted.”

The petition also requests “clarification or waiver of 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1) regarding telephone solicitations sent to wireless devices without prior express written consent. The Commission has never addressed how a business can know the ‘called party’s location’ when messages are delivered to a mobile phone subscriber. Thus, Commission rules currently impose an unworkable standard that warrants waiver or, at a minimum, clarification that reliance on the NPA-NXX is per se compliant.”

News: FederalLegislation DataPrivacy