On September 3, 2021, the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau released a Public Notice that seeks comment on Perdue for Senate’s July 2, 2021 Petition for Declaratory Ruling (“Petition”). The Petition requests that the FCC clarify that use of ringless voicemail (“RVM”) technology falls outside the scope of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (“TCPA”) because it allows for the delivery of a voice message directly to voicemail boxes without placing a “call” to any assigned telephone number. Specifically, the Petition alleges that RVM transmissions are outside the scope of the TCPA because they are not the functional equivalent of a call, do not use wireless networks to transmit messages, and do not bill the recipient for receiving the message. In addition, the Petition argues that RVM provides substantial public interest benefits, including: being less intrusive than robocalls or robotexts; enabling organizations to provide voters with critical information; and enabling communications without triggering privacy concerns the TCPA is designed to protect.
Comments are due by October 4, 2021, and reply comments are due by October 19, 2021.
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