FCC narrows TCPA revoke-all for informational calls, as utilities asked

The FCC adopted its TCPA consent-revocation order at the September 30 open meeting (CG Docket No. 02-278), largely as drafted. Under the September 9 draft, a stop request made in response to an informational call or text can be applied only to “the specific category of informational robocalls”; a request made in response to telemarketing still revokes consent to all future calls. Callers may designate exclusive revocation channels: an automated opt-out on the call, standardized reply words by text, or a website or phone number. The rules take effect 30 days after Federal Register publication, replacing the revoke-all requirement that had been pushed to January 31, 2027.

The Edison Electric Institute filed an ex parte on September 22 supporting the draft. Its concern was that a customer stopping one category of message “could inadvertently lose access to outage notifications, restoration updates, emergency communications.” It also backed exclusive channels for the “greater certainty regarding how revocation requests are received, authenticated, tracked, and processed.” The draft order cites the utility concern by name.

Under the new rule a single “stop” no longer reaches every informational message a sender has; the consumer stops each category, through whatever channel the sender designates. The attached FNPRM asks whether to require a revoke-all method anyway, along with a shorter processing window and two-way texting for reply opt-outs. Comments follow Federal Register publication; watch the Regulatory Watch dispatches as they land.