The Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") announced a final rule under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act ("TCPA") that places limits on the number of calls that can be made to consumers without prior express consent.1 Other recent laws enhance consumer protections from unwanted calls and emphasize personal privacy.2 TCPA violations can result in substantial penalties per violation, with penalty amounts increasing for willful violations. Additionally, there is no cap on statutory damages, meaning that thousands of violations can results in millions of dollars of fines.
Ensuring compliance with the TCPA will remain key for companies as regulation continues to become more stringent and litigation is a focal point. FTI Consulting works with clients to ensure operational efficiency and compliance with the TCPA when contacting customers. We help design, assess and implement leading management practices and systems to help maximize impact while ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
Litigation Support Expertise
Since 2021, more than 750 consumer class actions were filed alleging a violation of TCPA, many of which ended in settlements to avoid potential adverse decisions and reputational damage.3 Our team has worked with outside counsel for institutions in a variety of litigation matters involving TCPA. We have deep experience in providing litigation expertise and ongoing consulting expert support in class certifications.
Illustrative TCPA Assessment Overview
Our approach includes an evaluation of the design of the control environment through a review of policies and procedures and can then incorporate a determination of whether those policies and procedures are being followed through a review of specific call transactions.
TCPA Regulatory Experience
- Our team of risk and compliance specialists, former executives, former regulators and industry participants have assisted with a wide range of projects covering regulations and issues such as the TCPA
- We provide practical TCPA regulatory compliance insights and recommendations for businesses to implement
- We can provide a roadmap to successfully manage TCPA compliance responsibilities and self-identify problem scenarios and risk areas for remediation in advance of regulatory examinations and litigation
- Our experience partnering with clients allow us to understand operational concerns and business strategy implications of TCPA
CASE STUDY
TCPA Assessment for a large health services company
Situation
As part of a litigation agreement, a health services company was required to perform a TCPA compliance assessment. The company works with health plans to schedule and perform inhome health assessments to subscribers of the client's health plans. Outbound phone calls, text messages and mailings are utilized to promote the service to the health plan subscribers. Although consent is provided to the health services company, they are still subject to the TCPA and updates were required to be made to the compliance program. FTI Consulting was engaged to assess key TCPA compliance risks and to gain an understanding of outreach and customer account practices, policies, procedures, call scripts, internal controls, performance metrics and agent supervision and training.
Our Role
- We met with key stakeholders, performed interviews and completed a gap analysis against applicable TCPA requirements.
- Additionally, we developed a test plan for TCPA compliance and performed call monitoring of recorded phone calls to assess compliance.
- We met with key stakeholders to deliver the results and provided suggestions for enhancements to the health services company's TCPA compliance program.
- As part of the engagement, we also worked with similar industry clients to complete a benchmarking exercise for TCPA-related and operational metrics, systems and practices.
Our Impact
- Allowed the health services company to meet the requirements of the litigation agreement
- Enabled the company to enhance its TCPA compliance program in several areas
- Provided a roadmap for enhancements to TCPA training and audit programs
- Provided insight into its competitors' practices for strategic consideration and planning
Footnotes
2. Telephone Consumer Protection Act 47 U.S.C. § 227.
3. FTI Consulting analysis.
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