The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is the federal law that limits robocalls, robotexts and telemarketing. It generally bars autodialed or prerecorded calls to cell phones without the called person's prior express consent. It lets people revoke that consent and restricts sales calls to numbers on the Do Not Call list. It also lets courts award damages for violations.
Most people facing a stream of unwanted calls or texts arrive here after something specific. Texts kept coming after they replied STOP. A recorded voice called about an account they never opened. Sales calls rang through after 9 p.m. even though their number is on the registry. They want to know whether any of it crosses a legal line, and what the law actually lets them do about it. This page walks through the statute, the consent rules, the Do Not Call rules and the remedies, in that order.
What the Telephone Consumer Protection Act Is
The TCPA is a federal statute Congress enacted in 1991, codified at 47 U.S.C. § 227. The statute directs the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to write regulations putting it into effect. Those regulations sit mainly at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200.
The law runs along three main tracks. The first covers automated and prerecorded calls and texts. The second covers the National Do Not Call Registry and telephone solicitations. The third sets calling hours for those solicitations.
Two terms carry much of the weight. An "automatic telephone dialing system," often shortened to ATDS or autodialer, is defined 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." An "artificial or prerecorded voice" is, in plain terms, a message the caller recorded in advance or generated by machine, rather than a live person speaking. The FCC's consumer guide adds that "AI-generated voice calls are illegal unless the consumer has agreed to receive them or the caller is exempt."
Text messages are part of this picture too. The FCC's regulation treats consent to "calls or text messages" together. The FCC's consumer guide on robocalls and texts states that its rules "ban text messages sent to a mobile phone using an autodialer unless the phone owner previously gave consent to receive the message or the message is sent for emergency purposes."
Calls and Texts the TCPA Restricts
Under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(A), it is unlawful to make any call using an autodialer or an artificial or prerecorded voice to certain numbers. The exceptions are calls made for emergency purposes or with the prior express consent of the called party. The protected numbers are:
- any emergency telephone line, including 911 lines and emergency lines of hospitals, physicians, health care facilities, poison control centers, and fire or law enforcement agencies;
- the line of any guest room or patient room in a hospital, health care facility, elderly home or similar place;
- any 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.
That last item is why cell phones sit at the center of most TCPA questions. 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. The Supreme Court held it invalid and severed it in Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants, No. 19-631 (July 6, 2020).
A second rule, 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(B), concerns home landlines. It generally prohibits calls to a residential line using an artificial or prerecorded voice to deliver a message without prior express consent. Exceptions include calls initiated for emergency purposes and calls the FCC exempts by rule or order. A third rule, 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1)(C), generally prohibits using a fax machine, computer or other device to send an unsolicited advertisement to a fax machine, subject to the conditions the statute lists.
The autodialer definition has its own history at the Supreme Court, which read 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(1) in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, No. 19-511 (April 1, 2021). Whether a given system meets that definition is a technical, fact-bound question.
The key condition running through all of this is "prior express consent." In plain English, the called person agreed before the call or text was made to receive it. Whether a particular call or text may violate the statute depends on its facts. Those facts include the equipment used, the number called, whether consent was given and whether an exception or FCC exemption applies.
Consent Under the TCPA: What It Means and How It Can Be Revoked
Consent is something a person gives, and the regulation is just as clear that a person can take it back. Prior express consent means the called party agreed, before the call or text, to receive automated or prerecorded communications from that caller. The FCC's rules raise the bar for sales messages. Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(2), a call that includes an advertisement or constitutes telemarketing, made with an autodialer or prerecorded voice to a cell phone, generally requires "prior express written consent." The FCC's guide puts it this way: "Commercial texts require written consent; for informational texts, your consent may be oral."
Revocation means withdrawing consent already given. The rules are in 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(10)-(12), and paragraph (a)(10) states the core of them. A called party "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 several methods that count as reasonable "per se," meaning automatically:
- an automated, interactive voice or key-press opt-out on a call;
- replying to a text with "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel," or "unsubscribe";
- a website or telephone number the caller designated to process opt-out requests.
If a text reply uses other words, the caller "must treat that reply text as a valid revocation request if a reasonable person would understand those words to have conveyed a request to revoke consent." A sender whose texting system cannot accept replies must say so clearly on each text and offer reasonable alternative ways to revoke.
Timing matters here, especially for someone whose texts kept coming after they wrote STOP. Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(10), revocation requests made in any reasonable manner "must be honored within a reasonable time not to exceed ten business days from receipt of such request." The current text also states that covered callers "may not designate an exclusive means to request revocation of consent." The FCC has been active on these rules, and this page describes the regulation text as it reads in the current eCFR.
The National Do Not Call Registry
Do Not Call protection comes from a different part of the statute, 47 U.S.C. § 227(c). That subsection directed the FCC to write rules protecting residential subscribers from "telephone solicitations to which they object." It allowed those rules to establish a single national database of objecting numbers and to prohibit solicitations to numbers on it.
A "telephone solicitation" is defined in 47 U.S.C. § 227(a)(4). It means a call or message made to encourage the purchase or rental of, or investment in, property, goods or services. The definition excludes three kinds of calls: a call to a person who gave prior express invitation or permission, a call to a person with whom the caller has an established business relationship, and a call by a tax-exempt nonprofit organization. Whether a particular call is a telephone solicitation depends on its facts.
The Federal Trade Commission administers the registry. Its Do Not Call Registry FAQs explain that registration is free and never expires. 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 FTC also notes that the registry "doesn't block calls," so it will not stop scammers who are already breaking the law. Businesses that sell by phone generally must download the registry and remove listed numbers from their calling lists.
Calling hours answer the after-9 p.m. question directly. Under 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1), no person or entity may initiate a telephone solicitation to a residential subscriber "before the hour of 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. (local time at the called party's location)."
Some callers are treated differently. Nonprofits are carved out of the solicitation definition, as described above. The FCC's guide sets out separate rules for political calls, including that "political robocalls (autodialed or prerecorded) are allowed without prior consent" to landlines but generally need permission on cell phones unless sent manually. It also notes that market research or polling calls are permitted to landlines.
What the TCPA Makes Available to Consumers
The statute creates two separate private actions, and each has its own conditions. A broader overview of consumer rights remedies covers how other federal laws set theirs.
Automated and prerecorded call rules: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3). A person or entity may bring a case in an appropriate state court, "if otherwise permitted by the laws or rules of court of a State." The case may be based on a violation of subsection (b) or its regulations. It may seek an order to stop the violation, "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 Do Not Call regulations. The same state-court condition applies. Available relief is an order to stop the violation, actual monetary loss or "up to $500 in damages for each such violation, whichever is greater," or both. A court may increase the award to not more than three times that amount for willful or knowing violations. The defendant has an affirmative defense if it "has established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures" to prevent violating solicitations.
These are amounts a statute allows a court to award, not amounts any person is owed. Not every unwanted call is a violation, and not every violation leads to liability. Whether a situation gives rise to a claim depends on its specific facts, including consent, the equipment, the number called and any exception. The stages of a federal consumer lawsuit are covered separately.
Agencies offer another route. The FCC's guide states that a consumer may report illegal calls or texts to the FCC. It adds that the FCC "doesn't resolve individual complaints but uses them to guide policy and possible enforcement." A consumer may also report Do Not Call violations to the FTC. The FTC says it cannot respond to each report but analyzes them to take action against illegal callers.
How the TCPA Relates to Other Consumer Protection Laws
The TCPA governs calls and texts, and it stays in that lane. Debt collection conduct generally falls under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, beginning at 15 U.S.C. § 1692. Credit reporting falls under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, beginning at 15 U.S.C. § 1681. Questions about exposed data are taken up under consumer privacy law.
Overlap is most common with debt collection. A debt collector who places autodialed calls or robotexts to a cell phone may be subject to both the TCPA and the FDCPA, depending on the facts. Each statute has its own rules, conditions and remedies. The TCPA asks about equipment, consent and the number called. The CFPB's page on debt collector harassment describes FDCPA conduct, including "repetitious phone calls or use electronic communications... intended to harass, oppress, or abuse you or any person." One statute's remedy or deadline does not carry over to the other.
The agencies also have separate roles. The FCC implements the TCPA through 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200. The FTC administers the Do Not Call Registry and applies its own telemarketing rules, which its FAQs refer to as "FTC rules." These are separate regulatory frameworks, even where they cover the same call.
State law may add protections beyond the TCPA, and it differs from state to state. The FCC's guide notes that "many states now have statewide do-not-call lists for residents."
If You'd Like a Consumer Rights Case Review
TCPA questions usually turn on details that are easy to lose: who called or texted, from what number, whether a STOP reply or other revocation was sent and when, and whether calls continued past the ten-business-day mark. A conversation with an attorney can cover the call logs, screenshots, any consent forms or account terms, and the dates involved. This page offers general information about the TCPA. It does not address any particular person's calls or texts. More answers appear in the consumer law FAQ.
To discuss calls or texts like these with an attorney, a reader may request a consumer rights case review through Federal Consumer Rights.
