Section 5.2. Unwanted telephone solicitations prohibited. (Hdg. amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(a) Prohibition.--No telemarketer shall initiate or cause to be initiated a telephone solicitation to a telephone number of a residential, wireless or business telephone subscriber who does not wish to receive telephone solicitations and has caused the subscriber's name, address and telephone number to be enrolled on a do-not-call list maintained by the list administrator. This prohibition shall be effective 30 days after a quarterly do-not-call list is issued by the list administrator which first contains a residential, wireless or business telephone subscriber's name, address and residential, wireless or business telephone number. In the event that the Federal Trade Commission and/or the Federal Communications Commission establish a national No Call Registry, the Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of Attorney General is authorized to release to the list administrator of such national No Call Registry sufficient data to include all those residential, wireless and business telephone subscribers currently enrolled on the do-not-call list and any residential, wireless or business telephone subscribers who subsequently enroll with the Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of Attorney General. Prior to releasing any such data to a national No Call Registry, the Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of Attorney General shall provide those residential, wireless and business telephone subscribers currently enrolled with the opportunity to remove their information from the do-not-call list. ((a) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(b) Listings.--Telemarketers making telephone solicitations shall quarterly obtain listings of residential, business and wireless telephone subscribers in this Commonwealth who have arranged to have their names, addresses and telephone numbers enrolled on the list administrator's do-not-call list or shall utilize a service provider who has quarterly obtained and will use such listings. ((b) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(c) Duration.--A listing on a do-not-call list shall be maintained until the telephone number is no longer valid for the residential, business or wireless telephone subscriber or until the subscriber requests to have the telephone number removed from the list. ((c) amended Oct. 4, 2019, P.L.447, No.73)
(d) Fee limitation.--No list administrator may impose a fee for copies of a do-not-call list which exceeds the costs incurred by the list administrator in the production, preparation and distribution of that list or at a fee authorized by 16 CFR 310.8 (relating to severability).
(e) Affirmative defense.--A telemarketer is not in violation of this section if all of the following are satisfied:
(1) The telemarketer has established and implemented written procedures to comply with this section. ((1) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(2) The telemarketer has trained the telemarketer's personnel in the procedures. ((2) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(3) The telemarketer acting on behalf of the seller has maintained and recorded lists of residential, business or wireless telephone subscribers who may not be contacted.
(4) Any subsequent call is the result of error.
((e) amended Oct. 4, 2019, P.L.447, No.73)
(f) Attorney General.--The list administrator shall provide the Office of Attorney General with a copy of each quarterly do-not-call list.
(g) Restrictions on use of do-not-call list.--No person or business, telemarketer or otherwise shall use a list administrator's do-not-call list for any purpose other than to remove residential, business or wireless telephone subscribers from telephone solicitation lists. ((g) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(h) Disclosure to residential, business or wireless telephone subscribers.--Each local exchange telephone company, competitive local exchange telephone company, long-distance interexchange carrier company, Internet service provider that provides telephone service and affiliated companies providing telecommunications billing service shall clearly notify its residential, business or wireless telephone subscribers in this Commonwealth of their ability to contact the list administrator which accepts individual names, addresses and telephone numbers of persons who do not wish to receive telephone solicitations. The method of notification shall include, but not be limited to, placing the notice in billing statements mailed to residential, business and wireless subscribers and publication of notice in the consumer information pages of a local telephone directory of general circulation. The notification shall specify the methods by which residential, business and wireless subscribers may place their names on the do-not-call list and how often renewal is necessary. ((h) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(i) Contract.--If the Bureau of Consumer Protection has not entered into a contract with a list administrator within 90 days of the effective date of this section after a good faith effort to do so, the bureau may contract with any nonprofit organization to carry out the provisions of this section.
(j) Identification.--No telemarketer shall fail to provide a residential, business or wireless telephone subscriber with the name of the caller, the name of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made and, upon request, a telephone number or address at which the person or entity may be contacted. If a telemarketer makes a solicitation using a robocall, the telephone number may not be a 900 number or any other number for which charges exceed local or long-distance transmission charges. ((j) amended Oct. 4, 2019, P.L.447, No.73)
(k) Investigation, enforcement and reporting.--
(1) The Bureau of Consumer Protection in the Office of Attorney General shall investigate any complaints received concerning violations of this section. If, after investigating any complaint, the Attorney General finds that there has been a violation of this section, the Attorney General may bring an action to impose a civil penalty and to seek other relief, including injunctive relief, under the act of December 17, 1968 (P.L.1224, No.387), known as the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.
(2) The Attorney General shall remit 10% of any civil penalty collected under this section to the person filing the complaint leading to the civil penalty. In no event, however, shall the amount of this remittance exceed $100 for any person.
(3) On or before November 30 of each year, the Attorney General shall submit to the General Assembly a report detailing investigations and enforcement actions taken under this section during the preceding Commonwealth fiscal year. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the number of complaints received under this section, the nature of those complaints, the number of investigations and enforcement actions instituted by the Attorney General, a summary of the results of those investigations and enforcement and the amount of any civil penalties collected.
(l) Robocall requirements.--
(1) A telemarketer or telemarketing business that uses robocalls:
(i) Shall establish a procedure, consistent with the requirements under subparagraph (ii), for a called party to opt out of receiving future telephone solicitations from that telemarketer or telemarketing business and be immediately taken off the telemarketer's call list. ((i) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(ii) Shall provide notice to a called number, at the beginning of the call, stating how a called party can opt out of receiving future telephone solicitations from that telemarketer or telemarketing business. Immediate opt out shall be available through an automated, interactive voice-activated or key-press-activated opt-out mechanism for the called party to make a do-not-call request, including brief explanatory instructions on how to use the opt-out mechanism, within two seconds of disclosing the name of the caller and the name of the person or entity on whose behalf the call is being made. The called party shall be able to opt out throughout the duration of the call. ((ii) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(iii) May not require a called party's written consent as a condition to opt out of future telemarketing calls. ((iii) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
(iv) May not consider the action of opting out as the creation of an established business relationship.
(2) When a robocall is left on an answering machine or a voicemail service, the message must provide a toll-free telephone number that enables the called party to call back at a later time and connect directly to the automated, interactive voice-activated or key-press-activated opt-out mechanism and automatically record the called party's number to the do-not-call list of the telemarketer or telemarketing business. ((2) amended July 20, 2026, P.L.532, No.47)
((l) added Oct. 4, 2019, P.L.447, No.73)
(5.2 amended Sept. 12, 2003, P.L.105, No.22)