Massachusetts AG Issues Telematics Notice Under Right to Repair Law: What Comes Next?

On June 1, 2023, the Massachusetts Attorney General published the Massachusetts Vehicle Telematics System Notice that new car dealers in Massachusetts must now provide to purchasers of model year 2022 or later vehicles if those vehicles “utilize a telematics system.”  Dealers are required to provide the written notice—required as part of the 2020 ballot initiative amending the state’s Right to Repair Law (since codified as part of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 93K)—to prospective purchasers and obtain their signature certifying that they have received and read the notice.

The notice comes after newly-elected Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell in March 2023 informed the court in Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Campbell that her office would no longer agree to stay enforcement of the 2020 changes to Massachusetts law.  A Boston federal judge rejected in late May a last-ditch effort by the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an automaker trade association, to obtain a temporary restraining order in that case delaying enforcement to the Massachusetts Right to Repair Law until a decision is made on the legality of the changes adopted through the 2020 ballot initiative.  As part of the pending challenge, the Alliance maintains that compliance with the requirements of the ballot initiative is impossible and that the statutory changes are preempted by federal law.

The publication of the telematics notice and potential enforcement efforts will put increased focus on current legislative efforts to amend the Right to Repair Law. A pair of bills recently filed in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, H.290 and H.329, would extend until model year 2025 the deadline for compliance by OEMs with requirements for vehicles that “utilize a telematics system.”  Those proposed amendments also would shift the burden of disclosure from dealers to manufacturers by requiring that OEMs include in the owner’s manual of vehicles that “utilize a telematics system” information about data access under the Massachusetts Right to Repair Law.  Both bills have been referred to the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure, which has not yet scheduled a hearing to consider the proposed amendments.

Massachusetts dealers sought similar changes to the Right to Repair Law during the prior legislative session, but were unable to persuade legislators to advance proposed bills out of committee after a January 2022 hearing. During that hearing, a representative of the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association testified that requiring OEMs to comply with the law by model year 2022 vehicles is “not a workable date” and that because the amendments to the Right to Repair Law were passed via a ballot initiative, the “Legislature never had the opportunity to vet the law fully,” including the date by which compliance would be required.  Absent legislative action, it appears Massachusetts dealers must immediately start providing the required notice.