Extended Warranty Robocallers Face Increased Fines for Violating TCPA

FCC passes new TRACED Act provisions directed at reducing the number of robocalls

Posted by Tony Russell

July 1, 2020

Extended car warranty telemarketers who illegally robodial consumers face strict new fines for intentionally violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) under new provisions the Federal Communications Commission outlined in the TRACED Act.

The TCPA restricts calls using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice. It prohibits calls to residential phones if the call uses an artificial or prerecorded voice message, unless the called party consents or the call is for an emergency purpose.

The penalty for intentionally violating the TCPA has been increased by the FCC to $10,000 per illegal robocall. Under the old TCPA rules, the penalty was $1,500 per call.

The Pallone-Thune Telephone Robocall Abuse Criminal Enforcement and Deterrence Act, known as the TRACED Act, makes modifications to the TCPA due to the increased number of illegal robocalls and text messages received by consumers in recent years.

The three recently passed provisions are:

 1. Fines of up to $10,000 per robocall where the caller intentionally violates the TCPA.

 2. The FCC can now issue fines to illegal robodialers on the first offense. Under prior rules, the FCC had to issue a citation before issuing fines.

 3. The statute of limitations was lengthened from two years to four years.

A full copy of the FCC's order can be downloaded here.