Major TCPA Shift: FCC Moves to Reverse Course on Opt-Out Rules
A consumer replies “STOP” to a payment reminder. Should that also prevent the company from sending a fraud alert, appointment reminder, or other informational message the consumer may still want? Under an FCC rule currently scheduled to take effect in January, the answer could be yes. A new FCC draft would reverse course, giving businesses considerably more flexibility—and potentially making consent management across different systems, vendors, and types of communications much easier.
The draft Report and Order, released September 9, would make two significant changes. First, businesses could treat a consumer’s revocation of consent for informational calls or texts as applying only to the category of communications at issue. Second, callers could designate specific methods for consumers to revoke consent, rather than having to monitor and process revocations received through virtually any reasonable means.
Importantly, these changes are not final. The document is a draft scheduled for consideration at the FCC’s September 30 open meeting. The FCC expressly states that it remains subject to change and does not constitute official Commission action.
More Control Over How Consumers Opt Out
Under the draft, callers could clearly designate one or more approved methods for revoking consent, including an automated telephone opt-out, standardized text-message keywords such as “STOP,” or a designated website or telephone number. If the caller clearly discloses its designated method, it generally would not have to process revocations made through other means. Companies that do not designate an exclusive method would remain subject to the broader “reasonable means” standard.
That could be a meaningful operational improvement. The FCC itself recognizes that designated methods could allow companies to automate opt-out processing, reduce manual review, and provide greater certainty about whether a consumer has effectively revoked consent.
The draft would also address overbroad opt-outs from informational communications. A consumer who opts out of one category of informational messages could still receive other categories. The FCC specifically points to communications such as fraud alerts, multifactor-authentication messages, appointment reminders, and utility outage notifications as examples of messages consumers may still want even after opting out of another type of informational communication.
Telemarketing remains different. A revocation made in response to an advertising or telemarketing call or text would continue to apply to future advertising and telemarketing communications from that caller.
More TCPA Changes Could Follow
The FCC is also considering additional changes, but those are part of a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, not rules that would be adopted through the current draft Order. The FCC is seeking comment on potentially shortening the maximum time for honoring revocations from ten business days, including whether seven business days would be appropriate; requiring two-way texting so consumers can reply directly to opt out; requiring a simple method for consumers to revoke consent for all robocalls; and clarifying how revocations should apply across affiliates, divisions, and lines of business.
For now, the draft itself does not require companies to change their practices. The next important date is September 30, when the FCC is scheduled to consider it. If adopted substantially as written, the revised rules would take effect 30 days after publication in the Federal Register, and the new rule would supersede the delayed January 31, 2027 effective date for the FCC’s earlier “revoke all” requirement.