The Council of American Survey Research Associations (CASRO) and the Marketing Research Association (MRA), the two national research associations in the US, are contending a definition in the FCC’s new Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) rules that restrict the use of autodiallers to call mobile phones.

“The definition of an autodialler must be clarified to focus on the current capacity to generate and dial random or sequential numbers, and/ or clarified to exclude calls that involve human intervention in the dialling.”

According to Diane Bowers, CASRO president: “If the court rules in our favour, we could walk away with a more constrained autodialler definition and an applicable human intervention test — both of which could be major points of relief for the research industry.”

The two associations are also seeking relief from class action litigation over reassigned mobile phone numbers. More information can be found here.