Generally, a telemarketer may not make a sales call to a number on the National Do Not Call Registry. Exceptions apply, including when you gave permission. Calls that sell nothing may fall outside the rule. Whether a call breaks the law depends on who called, why, and what you agreed to.
If you are reading this, you may have registered your number years ago, believed that settled things, and still hear the phone ring at dinner with an offer you never asked for. The real question is whether the caller is breaking a rule, or whether the list never covered that kind of call in the first place. This page walks through the federal rules on telemarketing calls, the calls those rules still permit, how consent works, and the options available after an unwanted call.
What the National Do Not Call Registry Is and How It Works
The National Do Not Call Registry is a list of phone numbers whose owners do not want sales calls. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) runs it at DoNotCall.gov. The FTC's registry FAQ says registering a home or cell phone number is free. A registration "will never expire." The FTC removes a number only if it is disconnected and reassigned, or if the owner asks.
The FTC also states that a number should appear on the registry the next day. It adds that "it can take up to 31 days for sales calls to stop."
It helps to think of the registry as a list, not a call blocker. The FTC says it tells registered telemarketers which numbers not to call. Being on it "won't stop calls from scammers making illegal calls." Some calls also fall outside the do-not-call rules, as a later section explains.
Many states keep their own do-not-call lists, the FCC's robocall guide notes. State law may add protections, and it differs from state to state.
The Two Federal Laws That Govern Unwanted Calls: The TSR and the TCPA
Two federal frameworks overlap here. The first is the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), which governs sales calls. According to the FTC, businesses that sell over the phone generally must download the registry and remove registered numbers from their calling lists. The FTC adds that "it's illegal for anyone to use the Registry for any purpose other than preventing telemarketing calls."
The second is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), 47 U.S.C. § 227, a separate statute. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) writes the rules that carry it out, and the statute also lets people bring their own lawsuits.
The TCPA works on two tracks. Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A), it is unlawful to make a call using an automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice to certain numbers, including cell phone numbers, unless the called party gave prior express consent or the call is made for emergency purposes. In plain terms, "prior express consent" means permission given before the call. The statute defines an automatic telephone dialing system in 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(1) as "equipment which has the capacity (A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to dial such numbers."
The second track, 47 U.S.C. § 227(c), protects residential telephone subscribers from telephone solicitations they object to. The FCC's do-not-call rules come from that subsection. Because the TSR and the TCPA have different enforcers, conditions and remedies, one law's rules do not carry over to the other.
What Conduct May Violate the Do Not Call Rules
The FCC's regulation gives the clearest statement of the core rule. Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c), no person or entity may start a telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber whose number is on the national registry. The same section bars such calls to any residential subscriber before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., measured by local time where the called person is. The regulation says a registration "must be honored indefinitely," unless the consumer cancels it or the database administrator removes the number.
That rule has exceptions. A caller is not liable if it can show any one of these:
- the call was an error, and the caller routinely follows written procedures, trains its staff, keeps a list of numbers not to call, and uses a version of the registry no more than 31 days old;
- the consumer signed a written agreement to be contacted by that seller at that number;
- the telemarketer has a personal relationship with the person called.
Separately, 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(d) requires telemarketers to keep a company-specific do-not-call list. If you ask a caller not to call again, it must honor that request within a reasonable time, not more than ten business days, and keep honoring it for five years.
Putting these together: a sales call to a registered number, or another call after a stop request, may violate these rules unless an exception applies. The same goes for an autodialed or prerecorded call made without the prior express consent that 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A) requires. Whether a particular call violates the law depends on its facts.
Consent, Revocation, and the Established Business Relationship
Consent is often the reason a registered number still gets calls. Many people agreed to calls through a form or a purchase, or don't remember doing so at all. The FCC's guide says a caller needs "prior written consent" before a prerecorded telemarketing call to a home or wireless number. It also needs oral or written consent before an autodialed or prerecorded call or text to a wireless number.
An established business relationship, meaning a recent dealing between you and a company, can matter too. A call "to any person with whom the caller has an established business relationship" is not a "telephone solicitation" under 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4). The FTC says companies can call a consumer who has recently done business with them, "But if you ask them not to call you, they have to stop."
Revocation means taking back consent. Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(10), a called party may revoke consent "by using any reasonable method to clearly express a desire not to receive further calls or text messages." The regulation treats several methods as reasonable in themselves:
- an automated, interactive voice or key-press opt-out on a call;
- a reply text with "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel," or "unsubscribe";
- a website or phone number the caller set up for opt-out requests.
Revocations made in any reasonable manner must be honored within a reasonable time, not more than ten business days from receipt. Callers covered by the rule "may not designate an exclusive means to request revocation of consent," so a caller cannot insist that you use only one particular method.
What the TCPA Allows a Court to Award in a Private Action
The TCPA has two separate private-action provisions, and each has its own conditions. Under both, a person may sue only "if otherwise permitted by the laws or rules of court of a State." The case is brought in an appropriate court of that state.
Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), a person may sue over a violation of the automated-call and artificial or prerecorded voice rules. The person may ask the court to stop the violation. The person may also seek "actual monetary loss from such a violation, or to receive $500 in damages for each such violation, whichever is greater," or both.
Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5), the conditions are different. The action belongs to "a person who has received more than one telephone call within any 12-month period by or on behalf of the same entity" in violation of the do-not-call regulations. The statute allows actual monetary loss or "up to $500 in damages for each such violation, whichever is greater." It is an affirmative defense that the caller "established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures" to prevent such calls.
Under each provision, the court "may, in its discretion," raise the award to not more than 3 times that amount, but only if it finds the violation was willful or knowing. These figures are the limits of what a court may award, not amounts any consumer is owed, and not every violation leads to liability. More on how these cases work is on the page about a consumer lawsuit under federal law.
How to Report Unwanted Calls to Federal Agencies
Both agencies accept reports, and each describes what it does with them. The FCC's guide says you can report illegal calls or texts to the FCC by choosing the "unwanted calls" category, and you can note whether your number is being spoofed, blocked or mislabeled. The FCC "doesn't resolve individual complaints." It uses them to guide policy and possible enforcement, and it may share them with other enforcement agencies.
The FCC's guide also points consumers to the FTC for phone scams and Do Not Call violations. The FTC says it "can't respond to each one" because of the volume of reports. It and other agencies analyze reports to find and act against illegal callers. The FTC also releases reported numbers each business day to carriers working on call blocking.
According to the FTC, a spoofed number, meaning a faked caller ID, is still worth reporting, because agencies can sometimes trace the call from the details you give. Filing a report does not result in a payment to the consumer.
The FTC also suggests that a consumer who asks a company to stop calling "write down the date." For a robocall from an unknown caller, the FTC's advice is to hang up rather than press buttons. State agencies may offer their own complaint channels, and they vary.
When the Do Not Call Rules Do Not Apply: Calls the Law Still Permits
The registry rule reaches telephone solicitations. Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4), these are calls meant to encourage "the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services." The same definition excludes some calls:
- calls made with a person's prior express invitation or permission;
- calls from a caller with an established business relationship, as described in the consent section above;
- calls from a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
The FCC's guide adds that landlines may lawfully receive some calls, including market research or polling calls, nonprofit calls and political robocalls. Political calls, texts or prerecorded messages to cell phones need prior permission unless they are sent manually. Even calls outside the registry rule must follow the consent rules for autodialed and prerecorded calls.
Debt collection calls follow their own rules. The CFPB explains that repeated calls by a debt collector intended to harass may violate the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, a law separate from the do-not-call rules. Those limits are covered on the page about when a debt collector keeps calling.
Finally, scammers ignore the list. The FTC says a robocall selling something without written permission is illegal and "probably a scam."
If You'd Like a Consumer Rights Case Review
Calls to a registered number raise several questions at once. Was each call a sales call? Was there consent or a prior business relationship? Did the calls continue after you asked them to stop? A conversation can cover who called you, the dates and number of calls, any stop request and its date, and the call logs or texts you kept. This page does not cover debt collection rules in depth; the consumer law FAQ gives an overview of related federal laws.
If you are looking for a Do Not Call violation attorney to talk through calls like these, you can request a consumer rights case review through Federal Consumer Rights.
