Understanding The Established Business Relationship Exemption (EBR).
The Established Business Relationship exemption under the FCC TCPA regulations provides a timeframe that permits you to contact a consumer with whom you have had a qualified interaction.
What Is an Established Business Relationship?
“The term established business relationship for purposes of telephone solicitations means a prior or existing relationship formed by a voluntary two-way communication between a person or entity and a residential subscriber with or without an exchange of consideration, on the basis of the subscriber's purchase or transaction with the entity within the eighteen (18) months immediately preceding the date of the telephone call or on the basis of the subscriber's inquiry or application regarding products or services offered by the entity within the three months immediately preceding the date of the call, which relationship has not been previously terminated by either party.” 47 CFR 64.1200(f)(5)
The 18-Month Transactional EBR
Two types of relationships exist under the EBR exemption. First, if a consumer completes a purchase or financial transaction with a company, the company may call the customer, without the use of regulated dialing technology, within 18 months to make additional offers. This is known as the 18-month Transactional EBR.
The 90-Day Inquiry-Based EBR
Second, if a customer makes an inquiry with a company, the company may call the customer, without the use of regulated dialing technology, within 90 days to follow up on the inquiry.
Conditions and Compliance Considerations
This exemption applies to landlines, and in both cases, if customers inform the company that they do not want to be contacted, the company must honor the do-not-call request.
When contacting customers using the EBR exemption, ensure that you have developed procedures for defining and tracking an EBR; namely, which type, acquired and expired date, whether landline or mobile phone, honoring do-not-call request, and determining whether the phone number is on the company’s internal do-not-call list.
Tools to Help Maintain EBR Compliance
We support compliance with the FCC TCPA regulations and have Call Center Compliance Tools to aid in your efforts to comply with the EBR exemptions.