If life wasn’t already difficult enough for telemarketers, it’s about to get tougher, thanks to a recent federal court ruling. Mitchell “Rick” Brecher, of Greenberg Traurig, LLP, reported in National Law Review that in Gager v. Dell (News - Alert) Financial Services, Inc., the Third Circuit of the United States Court of Appeals held that consumers may revoke prior consent that they have given to be contacted on their mobile phones. Additionally, the court held that there is no time limit put on the right to revoke consent.
Brecher explains that there are a few important implications for telemarketers. The first, he says, is that firms that use automatic telephone dialing systems should determine whether or not any of the telephone numbers on their lists are mobile numbers. He adds that these companies should not place any calls to mobile numbers using an automatic dialer, unless they have prior consent (and that they should be aware that this consent can be revoked at any time). He went on to explain that debt collection companies may still call mobile numbers, but that they should be aware that they will have to manually dial the telephone numbers in question.
Across the board, things are getting more difficult for telemarketers, as Illinois just cracked down on telemarketers in August. Illinois recently amended the Telephone Dialers Act and Restricted Call Registry Act to allow statutory damages of $500 per violation of state law. The state is also requiring telemarketing companies to keep better records of their autodialer phone lists, as well as their operational activities.
For telemarketers, all these changes mean that it will be more difficult to stay compliant. It is important for any outbound calling centers that have not apprised themselves of the nuances of the new laws and rulings to make sure that they are up-to-date.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson