Final answer:
A licensee may not call a consumer who has registered on the do not call list unless there is prior express written consent from the consumer. The consent must be explicit and comply with the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and regulations from the FTC and FCC. Once given, consent can be revoked by the consumer at any time.
Step-by-step explanation:
If a consumer registers on the do not call list, may a licensee call anyway? The direct answer is: No, under no circumstances unless the consumer has provided prior express consent. However, the law states that even with consent, which must be in writing and not just orally, there are still rules and regulations that must be followed.
Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) and the rules set forth by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), businesses, including licensees, are generally prohibited from making unsolicited calls to consumers who have placed their numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. If a consumer consents in writing, a licensee may be allowed to call, but the consent must be explicit about the kind of calls the consumer is agreeing to receive, and it should not be presumed from silence or inactivity. Moreover, the licensee is required to maintain records of such consent.
Therefore, the acceptable scenario for a licensee to contact a consumer on the do not call list is if they have clearly recorded written consent. If a consumer revokes this consent, which can be done at any time, or the licensee abuses the consent by making different types of calls than agreed upon, the licensee must cease calling or face potential legal consequences.