One of the oddest recent developments in TCPAWorld is the seeming requirement that SMS messages must include Caller ID information.
This is odd for a few reasons but most of all because it is impossible.
But also because there is no law that actually says that.
At issue is section at Section 64.1601(e) which requires telemarketers to transmit caller ID information. The definition of telemarketer, in turn, requires the making of a “telephone call.”
In the first instance an SMS message is not a telephone call. And in the second instance carriers do not pass caller ID information with SMS messages. And since the law cannot require the impossible, there can be no claim for an SMS violation of Section 64.1601(e).
There’s also the much larger problem that Section 64.1601(e) was enacted back in 2003, yet the Truth in Caller ID act was enacted in 2010. So at the time the FCC enacted Section 64.1601(e) it likely lacked the authority to do so.
Oh, and since Section 64.1601(e) is a procedural standard it almost certainly was enacted under 227(d)– to the extent the FCC had any authority to enact it, which it did not. And 227(d) lacks a private right of action. So there can be no claim asserted for a violation of Section 64.1601(e) regardless.
Except that there is.
So holds Novia v. Mobiz, Inc. 2026 WL 752181 (D. Mass. March 17, 2026).
Now in fairness to the Court, it appears the defendant in Mobiz missed a few of these arguments–what else is new–so its another situation where attorneys who don’t really know the TCPA come into a case and make bad law for the rest of us.
Oh joy.
Definitely worth reading though for those who are in the space.
Bottom line– multiple courts have now held (incorrectly in my view) that marketing SMS messages cannot be sent without passing Caller ID information — AND YES THAT INCLUDES MESSAGES SENT WITH CONSENT.
So buckle up my friends. More litigation is coming.
