United StatesTelephone Consumer Protection Act, National Do Not Call Registry and Company-Specific List
47 U.S.C. 227(c); 47 CFR 64.1200(c)-(d)
A citation is an address, not a summary. The first part names the law; what follows narrows it to the exact section, article or paragraph.
What follows is LexLint's own research summary of this law, not legal advice.
In force since .
A telephone contact rule binding public and private bodies.
As of .
What it requires
- Before placing a telephone solicitation to a residential number, screen it against the National Do Not Call Registry, refreshed no more than 31 days before the call, and do not call a number on it unless the recipient has an established business relationship with you or has given signed written permission.
- Do not initiate a telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time at the called party's location.
- Maintain your own written do-not-call policy, train personnel in it, and honor an individual's request not to be called by you again within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days.
- Expect a private lawsuit once a person has received more than one call from you within a 12-month period in violation of these rules, for the greater of actual monetary loss or $500 per violation, trebled at the court's discretion for a willful or knowing violation.
If you get it wrong
Private right of actionYes
Statutory damages
Available only once a residential subscriber has received more than one call from the same caller within a 12-month period in violation of these regulations; $500 per violation, trebled at the court's discretion to as much as $1,500 for a willful or knowing violation.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person minimum
- 500
- Per person reckless
- 1,500
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Private civil suit in state court under section 227(c)(5); the Federal Trade Commission separately enforces the parallel Telemarketing Sales Rule restrictions on the same conduct
What it reaches
Obligation class
Prohibition, Governance
What this law does
Drafted with AI from the cited sources under the direction of UnGovr staff. UnGovr holds editorial responsibility for this page.
Section 227(c) directed the Federal Communications Commission to protect residential subscribers from unwanted telephone solicitations, and 47 CFR 64.1200(c) bars a telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time at the called party's location, or to a subscriber registered on the National Do Not Call Registry, unless the subscriber has an established business relationship with the caller or has given signed written permission to be called.
47 CFR 64.1200(d) separately requires anyone making telemarketing calls to maintain a written company-specific do-not-call policy, train personnel in it, and honor an individual's own request not to be called within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days.
A person who has received more than one call from the same entity within a 12-month period in violation of these rules may bring a private action in state court for the greater of actual monetary loss or $500 per violation, trebled at the court's discretion for a willful or knowing violation, a different trigger from the single-call private right under section 227(b)(3).
When LexLint raises it
automated_outreach
Read the law
US Code
official text (uscode.house.gov), with the Federal Communications Commission's implementing rule at 47 CFR 64.1200(c)-(d) on the Electronic Code of Federal Regulations
Every line above is drawn from the primary source linked here, read on the date shown. This is a research summary, not legal advice.