FCC Reverses Precedent, Rules that Government Contractors Are Subject to the TCPA

Crowell & Moring – In a ruling issued last week, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) overturned precedent from 2016, ruling that federal, state, and local government contractors are subject to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and therefore cannot make TCPA-prohibited robocalls on behalf of the government. The TCPA restricts certain calls made by “any person.” In a 2016 ruling, the FCC declared that the term “person” does not include the federal government and that therefore the TCPA’s restrictions do not apply to calls made by the federal government.