Law / United States / 
Texas
Automatic Dial Announcing Devices
Tex. Util. Code §§ 55.121-.138
In force since .
A telephone contact rule binding private bodies.
- Obligation class
- Licensing, Disclosure, Prohibition
As of .
What it requires
- Before using an automated dial announcing device to make a call that originates or terminates in Texas, obtain a Public Utility Commission permit, renewed annually, and, before using it to play a recorded message on connection, give written notice of the device to each telecommunications utility over whose system it will be used.
- Do not use the device for random or sequential number dialing when it plays a recorded message on connection, for a solicitation call terminating in Texas before noon or after 9 p.m. on a Sunday or before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. on a weekday or Saturday, or for a collection call at an hour the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits.
- Make the device disconnect within five seconds after either party ends the call, or, if it cannot, have a live operator introduce the call and receive the called person's oral consent before the message begins.
- State the nature of the call, your identity, and the number you are calling from within the first 30 seconds of the recorded message, add the pay-per-call disclosures where the call promotes such a service, and keep a solicitation message shorter than 30 seconds unless the device can recognize an answering machine and end the call within 30 seconds.
- These duties do not reach a call relating to an emergency or an approved public-service program, a school locating a truant student, a municipality's public-health, safety, or welfare call, or an organization calling its own member.
- Notify the commission by certified mail at least 48 hours before changing the device's telephone number or physical address.
If you get it wrong
Criminal exposureYes
Private right of actionNo
Criminal exposure note
Knowingly owning or operating an automated dial announcing device that is operating in violation of the subchapter is a Class A misdemeanor under Utilities Code section 55.138.
Penalty structure
The Public Utility Commission may impose this administrative penalty for each day or portion of a day the device operates in violation of the subchapter or a commission rule or order; the subchapter states no private civil action.
- Rule
- Per violation only
- As of
- Currency
- USD
- Per violation unit
- Day
- Per violation amount
- 1,000
Over one month of continuous breach, USD 30,440.
Who enforces it
Enforcement body
Public Utility Commission of Texas (permit, administrative penalty, and service disconnection on a finding of violation); criminal prosecution under section 55.138; a telecommunications utility may disconnect a device causing network harm.
What this law does
An automated dial announcing device is automated equipment used for telephone solicitation or collection that can store numbers to call, or produce them with a random or sequential number generator, and play a prerecorded or synthesized voice message without a live operator, and the subchapter reaches such a device used to make a call that originates or terminates in Texas.
A person may not use such a device without a Public Utility Commission permit, renewed annually, and may not use it to play a recorded message on connection without first giving each telecommunications utility whose system it will use written notice of the device. The device may not be used for random or sequential number dialing when it plays a recorded message on connection.
It may not be used for a solicitation call terminating in Texas before noon or after 9 p.m. on a Sunday, or before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. on a weekday or Saturday, or for a collection call at an hour the federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act prohibits. It must disconnect from the called person's line within five seconds after either party ends the call; if it cannot, a live operator must introduce the call and receive the called person's oral consent before the message begins.
Its recorded message must state within the first 30 seconds the nature of the call, the caller's identity and the number calling from, with added disclosures where the call promotes a pay-per-call service. A solicitation message must be shorter than 30 seconds unless the device can recognize an answering machine on the line and end the call within 30 seconds.
These rules do not reach a device used for an emergency or approved public-service call, by a school locating a truant student, by or for a municipality delivering public-health, safety or welfare information, or by an organization calling its own member. The owner or operator must notify the Commission by certified mail at least 48 hours before changing the device's number or address, or the permit is invalid.
The Commission may impose an administrative penalty of up to $1,000 for each day or part of a day the device operates in violation. On a Commission or court determination of a violation, the telecommunications utility must disconnect the violator's service. Knowingly owning or operating a device that is operating in violation of the subchapter is a Class A misdemeanor, and the subchapter states no private civil action.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app sends automated outreach.