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)
In force since .
A telephone contact rule binding public and private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Prohibition, Governance
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.NIST Privacy FrameworkCT.PO-P3
- 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.no control in the NIST Privacy Framework
- 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.NIST Privacy FrameworkCT.PO-P3NIST Privacy FrameworkGV.AT-P1
- Treat a telemarketing text message to a wireless number as a call for the Do Not Call Registry, calling-hours and company-specific list rules above, to the extent the Commission's rule extends them to wireless numbers.
- 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.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text. Also read by: Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, No. 25-2398 (7th Cir. ) (recorded ).
In the frameworks
- NIST Privacy Framework
- FINOS AIGF
- AIR-PREV-005System Acceptance Testing
Our reading of where this law's duties sit in each framework, and in the NIST Privacy Framework, line by line beside each duty above. It never says that running a control meets the law. How we read a framework against the law
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionYes
Criminal exposure note
Section 502 of the Communications Act punishes a person who willfully and knowingly violates a rule the Commission made under the chapter, including the Do Not Call rules issued under section 227(c), by a fine of not more than $500 for each and every day the offense occurs.
Penalty structure
Forfeiture ceiling for a person who is not a broadcast licensee or common carrier, 47 U.S.C. 503(b)(2)(D) as adjusted for inflation in 47 CFR 1.80 (2025): $25,132 per violation or each day of a continuing violation, $188,491 for a continuing violation; the statute's base figures are $10,000 and $75,000. A common carrier faces the 503(b)(2)(B) tier, $251,322 per violation and $2,513,215 in all. A violation reaches the forfeiture after the citation step in 503(b)(5). The private recovery under 227(b)(3) or 227(c)(5) is separate.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Fixed cap
- 188,491
- Per violation unit
- Violation
- Per violation amount
- 25,132
Statutory damages
Section 227(c)(5) lets the person recover actual monetary loss or up to $500 in damages for each violation, whichever is greater, so $500 is a ceiling per violation; 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. A court may treble the award, to not more than $1,500 per violation, on a finding that the caller willfully or knowingly violated the regulations.
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per person reckless
- 1,500
- Per person negligent
- 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
Settledness
The Seventh Circuit's ruling concerns only the private right of action in section 227(c)(5), and the court left agency action under other provisions of section 227 undisturbed.
- As of
- Case link
- https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-ca7-25-02398/pdf/USCOURTS-ca7-25-02398-0.pdf
- Case citation
- Steidinger v. Blackstone Medical Services, No. 25-2398 (7th Cir. )
- Open questions
- Does a text message count as a telephone call under the private right of action in 47 U.S.C. 227(c)(5) in a circuit other than the Seventh, which read it to reach unwanted calls but not text messages?
What this law does
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.
47 CFR 64.1200(e) applies these rules to a person or entity making telephone solicitations or telemarketing calls or text messages to wireless telephone numbers, to the extent described in the Commission's Report and Order that the rule names.
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).
The Seventh Circuit has held that texts are not calls, so the private right of action in section 227(c)(5) does not authorize a suit over unwanted text messages.
How courts have read itPremium data
Our analysis of this law draws on 7 court rulings.
What each ruling held, what it means for an app, and whether it still stands are premium data, in the Plus, Pro and Enterprise plans.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app places automated calls or sends automated texts.
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