When Ashley Gager alleged in court that Dell Financial Services continued to use an automated telephone dialing system (ATDS) to call her cell phone after she sent them a written retraction of the consent, she was surprised to hear the initial answer to the lawsuit. The District Court dismissed Gager’s complaint; with explanation that she could not revoke her consent once she provided it. Gager appealed the verdict and went on to the United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

Can Consumers Revoke Their Consent Under TCPA?

The appellate court agreed with Gager, reversing the judgment of the lower court and remanding the case for further proceedings. In the Matter of Rules & Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, 7 FCC Rcd. 8752, 8769 ¶ 31 (Oct. 16, 1992) had left out whether or not consumers could revoke their prior express consent once it was given. It also did not stipulate any limitations on the right to revoke the initial consent. Ashley Gager v. Dell Fin Ser (0:12-cv-02823), Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals was the first case to set a precedent for these issues.

One Final Text Message

When the appellate court agreed with Gager, it passed the message that consumers could, in fact, revoke their express prior consent to robocalls and exercise their rights under the TCPA if an entity continued to contact the consumer. In In the Matter of Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, SoundBite Communications, Inc., 27 FCC Rcd. 15391 (Nov. 26, 2012), the FCC additionally ruled that once a consumer revoked their consent to receive text messages from an entity, that entity could only send one final text message to the recipient confirming the revoke of consent.

In 2015, the FCC agreed as well and explicitly ruled that consumers may revoke consent to receive voice calls and texts by any reasonable method.  Whether oral or in writing and Callers cannot limit consumer’s ability to revoke consent.  In re Rules Implementing the Tel. Consumer Prot. Act of 1991 23 FCC Rcd 559 (2015),

The TCPA law has evolved as technology continues to expand and improve and new cases challenge entities using ATDPs, making the law confusing. Basically, the law was enacted to protect consumers from receiving unsolicited and annoying phone calls from companies. If a company using an ATDP has contacted you, call an Illinois consumer protection attorney. Keogh Law Ltd. handles cases like this all the time. Contact or call our office at (866) 726-1092 today for a free consultation.