Frequently Asked Questions

In addition to the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry, there are 11 individual state Do Not Call lists, including Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, and Wyoming.

The National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry and most state registries allow you to make calls in response to consumer inquiries. The general Federal Trade Commission (FTC)/Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rule is that you have 3 months from the established relationship in which to make such calls.

For more information on this topic, check out our FAQ entries on Established Business Relationships (EBR).

A violation of the Do Not Call (DNC) provision of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) can be up to $43,792 per call. The fines for a violation of state Do Not Call rules can vary from $100 up to $25,000 per call.

You only need to register as a telemarketer in the states where you make calls, provided that those states require registration. 32 states and the District of Columbia currently require registration. 

Those states are as follows: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

No. Most state telemarketing regulations are written to serve as additional regulations on top of the federal regulations. Some states with Do Not Call (DNC) provisions simply choose to adopt the federal DNC rules rather than create their own rules.

Depending on the particular details of the violations, penalties could be enforced by either the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). State attorneys general may also bring civil actions on behalf of the residents of their states.

Yes. These exemptions cause much confusion in the industry, leading to devastating fines and settlements. In the face of these exemptions, the vagueness of whether Business-to-Business (B2B) calls are covered under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TPCA) often leads reasonable people to think they are not.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) exempts all solicitation calls between a marketer and a business except marketing of nondurable office or cleaning supplies. This means most B2B are exempt from national Do Not Call (DNC) laws, but not every state exempts B2B calls under state law. Some jurisdictions require B2B marketers to register and place a bond before making calls.

B2B marketing calls are normally exempt from Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) DNC rules. They are also likely to be exempt from the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) DNC rules. However, some federal rules still apply and, as above, some state rules may still apply including laws specific to B2B.

The Do Not Call (DNC) provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR) are as follows:

Internal Do Not Call List Requirements
The internal DNC list refers to the Entity-Specific Do Not Call Provision. This provision mandates that telemarketers keep and maintain their own do not call list, specific to their organization. When a consumer asks to be put on your do not call list, you should honor that request immediately.

National Do Not Call Registry Requirements
The DNC list is comprised of both landline and wireless numbers and has been open to telemarketers since September 2003. All telemarketers are required to check their lists against the National Do Not Call Registry at least every 31 days.

Misuse of the Do Not Call List
Neither the National Do Not Call Registry nor any internal Do Not Call list may be used for any purpose other than compliance with the TSR’s Do Not Call provisions. This includes attempting to “share” the cost of accessing the national Do Not Call data. All organizations must have their own individual subscription.

Interfering with Someone’s Do Not Call Rights
When a consumer asks to be placed on your internal do not call list, you should accept this request and honor it immediately. Hanging up, refusing to honor or demanding the consumer listens to a sales pitch all constitute violations of this provision. Any organization caught violating this rule will lose any benefit from the TSR’s safe harbor from erroneous violations and may be subject to civil penalties.

It may be unlikely but technically it is possible. Willfully violating the Rhode Island Telephone Sales Solicitation Act is punishable by imprisonment for up to one year.

Yes, just as with telemarketing regulations for phone calls, there are state-specific laws covering texting. 15 states have their own laws regarding text messaging. State-level laws on texting are typically more complex and stringent than federal-level laws. However, consent is still always the key to compliance.

Yes, some state telemarketing laws prohibit you from making calls during a state of emergency. However, it is less clear when it comes to texting. Other than the 15 states that treat text messages separately, it is not clear whether a regulator would say texting is a call. A lot of state-level statutes about states of emergency are worded in such a way that calls are explicitly prohibited while texts are not. But as a practical matter, it is best not to call or text during states of emergency.