Under federal law, a robocall made without your consent is often unlawful. The Telephone Consumer Protection Act generally bars autodialed or prerecorded calls to a cell phone, and prerecorded calls to a home line, unless the person called agreed first or the call is for an emergency. A person may withdraw that consent at any time, in any reasonable way.
Most people facing a phone that will not stop ringing are in the same spot: recorded voices several times a day, texts that keep arriving after a reply of STOP, and no clear idea whether any of it is legal. Many of them also wonder whether they agreed to it somewhere without meaning to. This page explains the federal rule on robocalls and robotexts, what consent means, how consent can be withdrawn, how the National Do Not Call Registry fits in, and what the law makes available when the rules are broken.
What the TCPA Prohibits: The Core Rule on Automated Calls and Texts
The core rule is in 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A). It makes it unlawful to make any call using "any automatic telephone dialing system or an artificial or prerecorded voice" to a number assigned to "a paging service, cellular telephone service, specialized mobile radio service, or other radio common carrier service, or any service for which the called party is charged for the call." The same rule covers calls to emergency lines and to hospital guest or patient rooms. Two kinds of calls fall outside it: calls made for emergency purposes and calls made with the prior express consent of the person called.
Prior express consent means the person called agreed to receive the call before it was made. FCC rules ask for different kinds of consent depending on whether a call sells something, as the next section explains.
The printed statute also contains an exception for calls made solely to collect a debt owed to or backed by the United States. That exception is not current law for this rule. In Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants (No. 19-631, July 6, 2020), the Supreme Court held it invalid and severed it.
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 Supreme Court read that definition in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (No. 19-511, decided April 1, 2021).
A separate rule, 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(B), bars initiating a call to a residential line "using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without the prior express consent of the called party." That rule has its own exceptions, including emergency calls and calls the FCC exempts by rule or order. The FCC's regulation that carries out these rules is 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a). Whether a particular call violates them depends on how it was made, the number it reached and what consent existed.
What 'Prior Express Consent' Means Under the TCPA
The kind of consent a caller needs depends on what the call is for. Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(2), a call that "includes or introduces an advertisement or constitutes telemarketing," made with an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice to a cell phone, generally requires "the prior express written consent of the called party." Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(3), the same written consent is required for a prerecorded telemarketing message to a home line. The regulation lists exceptions, including calls by tax-exempt nonprofits and certain health care messages.
Telemarketing, in plain terms, is a call meant to sell something. The statute's closely related term, "telephone solicitation" in 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4), means a call or message "for the purpose of encouraging the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods, or services." The term leaves out calls made with the person's prior express invitation or permission, calls to someone with whom the caller has an established business relationship, and calls by a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
The FCC's consumer guide, Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts, puts the difference this way. Prior written consent, "on paper or through electronic means, including website forms or a telephone keypress," is required before a prerecorded telemarketing call to a home or wireless number. Oral or written consent is required before an autodialed or prerecorded call or text to a wireless number. The guide adds that "commercial texts require written consent; for informational texts, your consent may be oral."
For someone trying to remember whether they ever agreed to these calls, that line between selling and informing often decides which kind of consent was needed.
How a Consumer May Revoke Consent
Revocation means withdrawing consent that was given earlier. Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(10), a person called "may revoke prior express consent, including prior express written consent," by "using any reasonable method to clearly express a desire not to receive further calls or text messages from the caller or sender."
The regulation names methods that count as reasonable on their own:
- an automated, interactive voice or key press opt-out option on a call;
- the words "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel," or "unsubscribe" sent in reply to a text; or
- a website or telephone number the caller designates for opt-out requests.
When one of these is used, "that consent is considered definitively revoked and the caller may not send additional robocalls and robotexts." A reply in other words must be treated as a revocation "if a reasonable person would understand those words to have conveyed a request to revoke consent." A sender whose texts cannot take replies must say so on each text and give other reasonable ways to revoke.
The deadline is set in the regulation. Revocations "must be honored within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days from receipt of such request." Under the regulation text as published, callers "may not designate an exclusive means to request revocation of consent."
Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(11), other methods, "such as a voicemail or email," create a rebuttable presumption that consent was revoked once the consumer produces evidence the request was made. Whether the caller can overcome that presumption turns on "a totality of circumstances analysis." This section describes the regulation text as published in the eCFR in October 2026. The FCC's revocation rules have changed recently.
The National Do Not Call Registry and What It Covers
The National Do Not Call Registry is a separate tool from the consent rules above. The FCC describes it as "a list of landline and wireless phone numbers that legitimate telemarketers agree not to call." Cell phone numbers can be registered too. The FCC guide says registration is free at donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236), and that the call must come from the number being registered.
The FTC's National Do Not Call Registry FAQs add several points:
- A number "should show up on the Registry the next day, but it can take up to 31 days for sales calls to stop."
- The registration "will never expire." The FTC removes a number only if it is disconnected and reassigned, or if the owner asks.
- Companies "can call you if you've recently done business with them, or if you've given them written permission to call. But if you ask them not to call you, they have to stop."
The FTC is plain about the limits. The registry "doesn't block calls," so "being on the Registry won't stop calls from scammers making illegal calls."
The two frameworks work differently. The registry covers sales calls to registered numbers, whether or not they are automated. The consent rules in 47 U.S.C. § 227(b) cover autodialed and prerecorded calls whether or not the number is registered. The FCC notes its robotext rules "apply even if you have not placed your mobile phone number on the National Do Not Call Registry." State law may add protections, and the FCC says many states keep their own do-not-call lists. Those rules differ from state to state.
What the TCPA's Private Right of Action Allows
A private right of action is the statute's permission for a person to bring a case in court. The TCPA has two, and each has its own conditions. Both may be brought "if otherwise permitted by the laws or rules of court of a State," in an appropriate court of that State.
Automated and prerecorded calls, 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3). A person or entity may bring an action based on a violation of 47 U.S.C. § 227(b) or its regulations. The action may seek to stop the violation, "to recover for actual monetary loss from such a violation, or to receive $500 in damages for each such violation, whichever is greater," or both. If the court finds the defendant "willfully or knowingly violated" the rules, it "may, in its discretion, increase the amount of the award to an amount equal to not more than 3 times" that amount.
Do-not-call rules, 47 U.S.C. § 227(c)(5). This 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 regulations prescribed under this subsection." It may seek to stop the violation, actual monetary loss "or to receive up to $500 in damages for each such violation, whichever is greater," or both. A defendant has an affirmative defense if it "has established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to effectively prevent telephone solicitations in violation of the regulations." The same discretionary increase of up to three times applies on a finding of a willful or knowing violation.
These are what the statute allows a court to award, not what any person will receive. Whether a call breaks either rule depends on its facts. Related pages explain consumer rights remedies and how consumer lawsuits work.
Filing a Complaint with the FCC or FTC
An agency complaint is a separate path from a lawsuit. It reports a problem to the government, and neither agency acts as the consumer's representative.
According to the FCC's Stop Unwanted Robocalls and Texts guide, a consumer can report illegal calls or texts to the FCC by choosing the "unwanted calls" category and noting whether the number is being spoofed, blocked or mislabeled. The FCC says it "doesn't resolve individual complaints but uses them to guide policy and possible enforcement," and that a complaint may be shared with other enforcement agencies. The guide adds that phone scams and Do Not Call violations can be reported to the FTC.
The FTC's registry FAQs explain where to report a call. A consumer who "didn't lose money and just want[s] to report a call" may use the reporting form at DoNotCall.gov. A consumer who lost money to a phone scam, or who has information about the caller, may report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. The FTC asks for details such as any callback number given and the date and time of the call. It also says it "can't respond to each one" because it receives millions of reports.
A complaint creates a record. It does not by itself stop the calls or bring any particular result. A private action under the TCPA is a separate matter, covered on this site's page on consumer lawsuits.
If You'd Like a Consumer Rights Case Review
Robocall questions usually turn on details that are easy to lose: which number was called, whether the calls were prerecorded or automated, what consent may have existed, and exactly when and how a STOP reply or other revocation was sent. A conversation about this can cover the caller involved, the call and text log, screenshots of replies and any complaint already filed with the FCC or FTC. This page explains the federal rules in general. It does not decide whether any particular call broke them.
To discuss calls or texts like these with an attorney, a consumer may request a consumer rights case review through Federal Consumer Rights.
