At the end of last month, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont signed a bill into law that changes some aspects of the state’s telemarketing regulations. The new law expands the applicability of the state’s prohibitions on telephonic sales calls. Previously, those calls had been prohibited when made with an autodialer and only if they were unsolicited and recorded. Now, all telephonic sales calls are prohibited without prior express written consent.

Other changes in the new law include shortening the hours in which telemarketing is allowed to 9:00 am to 8:00 pm; new definitions for terms such as “telemarketers”, “voice communication”, and “text or media message”; a rebuttable presumption that all calls made to Connecticut area codes are to residents of the state; and new disclosure requirements.

The new disclosures include requirements to provide the caller’s identity, the identity of the entity on whose behalf they are calling, and the call’s purpose. The caller must also give call recipients the option to end the call or be placed on an internal Do Not Call (DNC) list. These disclosures must occur within the first 10 seconds of a call and, if the call recipient opts to end the call, it must be ended within 10 seconds.

These regulations are enforceable under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act and include fines of up to $20,000. The amendments take effect on October 1, 2023.