What is the TCPA, and why does it reach your floor?
The TCPA, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, is the US federal law that governs telemarketing calls and texts to US consumers. It was passed in 1991, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) writes and updates the detailed rules under it. It covers who you may call, when, with what kind of technology and with what kind of consent.
Owners in Pakistan and India sometimes assume a US law cannot touch an office in Karachi or Mohali. That is the wrong way to look at it. The law protects the person receiving the call, and that person is in the US. Your buyer, your dialer provider and your carrier are usually in the US too, and they will pass liability and complaints straight back to you. Many buyers now put TCPA compliance in their contracts for exactly that reason.
This post covers the basics. For how the obligations split between your floor and your client, read our earlier piece, TCPA for a floor dialing US numbers. Neither post is legal advice.
The TCPA is not the only rule
Two other layers sit next to the TCPA. The first is the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). It sets rules for how telemarketing calls are made and what must be said, and the FTC runs the National Do Not Call Registry. The second is state law. Many US states have their own telemarketing laws, some stricter than the federal rules on calling hours, consent or registration of telemarketers.
You do not have to memorise all of it. You do have to know that a campaign can be legal under the federal rules and still break a state rule, and that US counsel who works on telemarketing is the right person to map that for your campaign.
Your buyer's contract adds a fourth layer. Many buyers set their own rules on top of the law: approved scripts, required disclosures, states you may not call, and audit rights over your recordings. Break those and you can lose the account even if no regulator ever hears about it.
Consent: the part most floors get wrong
Consent is the core of the TCPA. In general terms, telemarketing calls to mobile phones made with an autodialer, or calls that use an artificial or prerecorded voice, need the person's prior express written consent. Most US numbers today are mobile, so for practical purposes you should assume your list needs it.
Written consent usually comes from a web form where the consumer agrees to be contacted. What a valid form must say, and who it must name, has been a moving target in recent years, and the rules for leads bought from comparison websites in particular have changed more than once. Keep a record of where each lead came from, when the consent was given and what the consumer saw. Our glossary entry on consent covers the term.
If you buy data, ask the seller for consent records you can actually produce. A list with no proof of consent is a liability you are paying for.
Consent can also be withdrawn. A consumer who agreed on a web form last month can tell your agent today that they want no more calls, and that request overrides the form. Recent FCC rule changes make clear that people can revoke consent in any reasonable way, including by simply saying so on the call. Your floor has to capture that and act on it, which is where your do-not-call process and your consent records meet.
Calling hours, caller ID and identifying yourself
Federal rules generally limit telemarketing calls to between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the called person's local time. Some states set a narrower window or limit calls on certain days. Because the US spans several time zones, your dialer must set the calling window by the lead's time zone, not by your own clock or by US Eastern.
Check how your dialer decides a lead's time zone. Many work it out from the area code, which can be wrong when a person keeps a mobile number after moving states. Where you have the lead's address or ZIP code, use it. And remember the clocks: when the US moves between daylight and standard time, your shift in Pakistan or India moves too, but the legal window in each US state does not.
Telemarketers must also send caller ID that shows a number the consumer can call back, and must not fake it. At the start of a call, the agent or bot should identify who is calling and on whose behalf. Scripts that hide the business name or invent a company to sound local cause complaints fast.
STIR/SHAKEN, the call-signing system US carriers use to check caller ID, also affects how often your calls get answered. Work with your carrier to make sure your numbers are properly signed.
Do Not Call obligations
There are three layers. The National Do Not Call Registry lists numbers whose owners do not want telemarketing calls, and telemarketers must scrub their lists against it regularly. Some states keep their own lists. And every business must keep an internal do-not-call list of people who have asked it to stop calling, and honor those requests promptly.
That last one is where offshore floors get caught. A caller says "don't call me again" in the middle of a pitch, the agent treats it as an objection, and the number gets dialed again next week. We explain the lists and how to handle the request in what DNC means on a call center floor.
Artificial voices, prerecorded messages and AI
The TCPA has always treated calls that use an artificial or prerecorded voice more strictly than live calls. In February 2024, the FCC issued a ruling confirming that AI-generated voices, including voice clones, count as "artificial" voices under the TCPA. The practical effect is that a call placed with an AI voice is subject to the same consent rules as a prerecorded call.
This matters for every floor using voice bots, ours included. If you put an AI fronter on US calls, treat those calls as artificial-voice calls and make sure your consent covers them. Several states and many campaign owners also require the call to disclose that it is automated. Have US counsel confirm what your consent language and your opening disclosure must say before the first bot dials.
Penalties, and a TCPA checklist for your floor
TCPA liability is counted per call. Consumers can sue directly and claim statutory damages for each violating call, and courts can increase the damages when a violation is found to be willful or knowing. The FCC and state attorneys general can also take action. Because claims are often brought as class actions covering thousands of calls, a small mistake repeated across a list adds up quickly.
Here is the checklist I would want every owner to work through with counsel before going live.
- Every lead has a recorded source, date and consent text you can produce on request.
- Your consent covers the technology you use, including AI or artificial voices.
- Lists are scrubbed against the National DNC Registry and relevant state lists on a regular schedule.
- Your internal do-not-call list is checked before every dial and updated the moment someone opts out.
- Calling windows are set in the dialer by the lead's local time zone, including stricter state rules.
- Caller ID shows a real, callable number, and your numbers are signed through your carrier.
- The opening identifies the caller and the business, and includes any disclosure your counsel requires.
- Every call is recorded and kept, so a complaint can be answered with evidence.
- Agents and bots treat "stop calling me" as a request, not an objection.
- Your contract with the buyer says who is responsible for consent and compliance.
What bots change, and what they do not
Bots do not change your obligations. What they change is consistency. A B3 Voice bot reads the disclosure you give it the same way on every call, marks a do-not-call request on the call instead of arguing with it, and every call is recorded and transcribed, as described on our DNC marking page. Registry scrubbing and your suppression list stay with you and your dialer.
Talk to US counsel before you dial, and again whenever you change campaigns, lead sources or technology. That conversation costs less than a single complaint.
