The Federal Communications Commission is postponing the implementation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s one-to-one consent requirement until next year. This decision comes as a result of an appeals court ruling that raised concerns about the FCC’s definition of prior express consent.
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The FCC has decided to delay the Telephone Consumer Protection Act’s one-to-one consent requirement until 2026 due to a recent court ruling against the commission.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit sided with the Insurance Marketing Coalition (IMC), which filed a petition in 2024 challenging the FCC’s prior express consent requirements under the TCPA.
In the ruling, the FCC mandates marketers to obtain explicit written consent from consumers before making calls, sending texts, or using auto-dialers for pre-recorded messages. The requirement also specifies that consumers must provide consent for each company individually. Additionally, any subsequent calls, texts, or automated messages must be relevant to the original reason for consent.
The IMC argued that the FCC’s prior express consent requirement unfairly distinguished between telemarketing/advertising calls and non-telemarketing/non-advertising calls. They also raised concerns about the conflicting guidance on the requirement that all consumer calls must be logically and topically related.
Acting Chief of the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau, Eduard W. Bartholme III, issued an order stating, “We are delaying the revised rules of the Commission by 12 months, until January 26, 2026, or until the court’s decision on IMC’s challenge, whichever comes first.”
Despite the delay, companies are still required to obtain written consent and provide clear disclosures for robocalls and robotexts to avoid severe penalties. In 2023, Keller Williams settled a class action lawsuit by paying $40 million for making unsolicited calls to consumers.
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