Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991
TCPA
Marketing · Communications
The TCPA restricts autodialed and prerecorded-voice calls and texts to cell phones without prior express consent, prerecorded calls to residential lines, and unsolicited faxes, and underpins the National Do-Not-Call Registry rules. FCC rules effective April 11, 2025 require honoring consent revocations by any reasonable means within 10 business days; the 'revoke-all' portion was delayed to January 31, 2027. The FCC's 2023 'one-to-one consent' rule was vacated by the Eleventh Circuit and removed in August 2025.
- Where
- Federal
- Citation
- 47 U.S.C. 227; 47 CFR 64.1200
- Status
- In force
- In force since
- 1992-12-20
- Last amended
- 2026-03-25
- Enforced by
- Federal Communications Commission; state attorneys general; private plaintiffs
- People can sue
- Yes
- Penalties
- Private actions for the greater of actual loss or $500 per violation, trebled to $1,500 for willful or knowing violations; FCC forfeitures; intentional robocall violations add a penalty of up to $10,000 on top of the base forfeiture (47 U.S.C. 227(b)(4)(B)).
- Applies to
- Persons making calls or sending texts using an automatic telephone dialing system or artificial or prerecorded voice
- Telemarketers and sellers calling residential subscribers
- Senders of unsolicited fax advertisements
- Voice service providers (call blocking and caller ID authentication)
Rights it gives people
- Apply a revocation to all future robocalls and robotexts from the caller on unrelated matters ('revoke-all').47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10) · Only if: Delayed by FCC waiver · From 2027-01-31
- Honor a consumer's revocation of consent made by any reasonable means within 10 business days.47 CFR 64.1200(a)(10) · From 2025-04-11
Practices it requires
- Do not transmit misleading or inaccurate caller ID information with intent to defraud or cause harm (Truth in Caller ID Act).47 U.S.C. 227(e)
- Do not make telemarketing calls to numbers on the National Do-Not-Call Registry without consent or an established business relationship, and maintain an internal do-not-call list.47 U.S.C. 227(c); 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(2), (d)
- Do not make autodialed or artificial/prerecorded voice calls (including texts) to wireless numbers without the called party's prior express consent (prior express written consent for telemarketing), absent an emergency or exemption.47 U.S.C. 227(b)(1)(A)(iii); 47 CFR 64.1200(a)(1)-(2)
- Do not send unsolicited fax advertisements; solicited and EBR faxes must carry an opt-out notice.47 U.S.C. 227(b)(1)(C), (b)(2)(D)
Other duties
- Voice service providers must block calls from numbers on a reasonable do-not-originate list.47 CFR 64.1200(o) · Only if: Voice service providers · From 2025-12-15
Sources
- Official text
- 47 U.S.C. 227 (OLRC)
- 47 CFR 64.1200 (eCFR)
- FCC, Strengthening the Ability of Consumers To Stop Robocalls, 89 FR 82518 (Oct. 11, 2024)
- FCC, Delete, Delete, Delete; Targeting and Eliminating Unlawful Text Messages, 90 FR 42137 (Aug. 29, 2025)
- FCC, Advanced Methods To Target and Eliminate Unlawful Robocalls, 90 FR 13416 (Mar. 24, 2025)
- FCC, CGB extends effective date of consent revocation rule
Checked against these sources on 2026-09-25 by research agent (Claude), primary sources.
Unverified: The Jan. 31, 2027 revoke-all date comes from secondary sources describing the FCC's Jan. 6, 2026 order; the FCC order itself was not fetched | 10-business-day revocation deadline and 47 CFR 64.1200 paragraph letters were not re-read in current eCFR text | Effect of McLaughlin Chiropractic v. McKesson (2025) on deference to FCC TCPA interpretations not researched
Research reference, not legal advice.