index / 06 who-regulates
Who regulates
Five bodies act on telemarketing law in the United States. Two federal agencies write and enforce rules, state attorneys general enforce both federal and state law, private plaintiffs bring the great majority of cases, and the courts decide what the statute means. Each entry: authority, what it does, what it does not do.
| Body | Authority | Does | Does not |
|---|---|---|---|
| FCC | 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(2), (c); 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200 | Writes the TCPA rules; issues declaratory rulings on petitions; enforces by citation, notice of apparent liability and forfeiture through its Enforcement Bureau; maintains the Reassigned Numbers Database; mandates STIR/SHAKEN. | Does not award damages to consumers; does not bring private cases; its interpretations do not bind district courts after McLaughlin (2025). |
| FTC | 15 U.S.C. §§ 6101 to 6108; 16 C.F.R. Part 310 (TSR) | Operates the National Do Not Call Registry; enforces the Telemarketing Sales Rule by civil penalty actions; brings cases against large-scale robocallers, often jointly with states. | Does not enforce the TCPA itself; its jurisdiction excludes common carriers, banks, insurers and some others, which is why the FCC rules mirror the TSR. |
| State attorneys general | 47 U.S.C. § 227(g); state telemarketing and consumer-protection statutes | Sue in federal court for a pattern or practice of TCPA violations, for injunctions and $500 to $1,500 per violation; enforce state statutes; coordinate through the Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force formed in 2022. | Do not represent individual consumers in private claims; action is reserved for patterns and large-scale conduct. |
| Private plaintiffs | 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), (c)(5); state private rights | Bring the large majority of TCPA matters, individually and as class actions; send demand letters before suit; recover statutory damages. | Cannot impose forfeitures or injunctions on an industry-wide basis; limited to the calls they or the class received. |
| Courts | Article III; 28 U.S.C. § 1331 (Mims); Hobbs Act review | Decide liability and damages; certify classes; review FCC orders in the courts of appeals; since McLaughlin, determine the statute’s meaning independently in private cases. | Do not write rules; cannot create exemptions. |
FCC
The Commission acts through rulemaking (Reports and Orders that amend 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200), declaratory rulings in response to petitions (the 2013 Dish Network ruling, the 2022 ringless voicemail ruling, the 2024 AI-voice ruling), and enforcement. Enforcement starts with a citation for a first violation by an entity not licensed by the FCC, then a notice of apparent liability, then a forfeiture order. The TRACED Act added a penalty for intentional violations and a longer period in which to act. FCC orders are reviewed in the courts of appeals under the Hobbs Act; ACA International (2018) and Insurance Marketing Coalition (2025) are the examples that changed the rules. The orders are listed with document numbers in TCPA statute citations.
FTC
The Commission's Telemarketing Sales Rule covers much of the same ground as the FCC's rules and includes the registry. The FTC sells registry access to sellers and telemarketers, pursues civil penalties against violators, and has brought joint actions with state attorneys general against operations placing billions of calls. Its jurisdiction gaps are why both agencies have rules: common carriers, banks, credit unions, insurance companies and nonprofits fall outside the FTC Act and are reached by the FCC's TCPA rules instead.
State attorneys general
Section 227(g) gives a state attorney general standing to sue in federal court on behalf of residents for a pattern or practice of violations, with the same per-violation damages and injunctive relief as private plaintiffs. States also enforce their own telemarketing statutes, tabulated in the state telemarketing laws table, which may carry civil penalties and registration requirements. The multistate task force formed in 2022 coordinates investigations of gateway providers and large robocall operations across more than fifty attorneys general.
Private plaintiffs
The TCPA is enforced mainly by the people called. The two private rights of action, § 227(b)(3) and § 227(c)(5), need no agency involvement, no proof of loss, and no lawyer to send a demand. A person can sue in state or federal court, individually or for a class. Companies that document violations and send demands on claimants' behalf operate in this space; the private right of action is what makes a demand letter from a non-lawyer a real claim rather than a bluff. Class actions are the mechanism by which individual $500 claims become settlements in the millions. The per-call figures are in TCPA damages per call.
Courts
District courts decide private cases; courts of appeals review FCC orders and district court judgments; the Supreme Court has decided the statute's meaning in Mims (2012), Campbell-Ewald (2016), Barr (2020), Duguid (2021) and McLaughlin (2025). After McLaughlin, a district court faced with an FCC interpretation gives it respectful consideration but reaches its own reading of the statute, so the balance between agency and court has shifted toward the court.
Carriers and platforms
Not regulators, but gatekeepers. Voice carriers must implement STIR/SHAKEN and may block traffic that fails authentication. Messaging carriers and aggregators require 10DLC campaign registration and apply the CTIA messaging principles as a condition of network access. A campaign that fails these contractual requirements is usually blocked before it is sued.
Quick lookups
- Who enforces the TCPA?
- The FCC writes the rules and can impose forfeitures; the FTC runs the Do Not Call Registry and enforces its parallel Telemarketing Sales Rule; state attorneys general can sue under § 227(g); and private plaintiffs, who bring most cases, sue under § 227(b)(3) and (c)(5).
- Can a private company send a TCPA demand without being a law firm?
- Yes. The private right of action belongs to the person called, who may act through a representative. A demand letter is a notice of claim, not a court filing. Only a lawyer can file and argue the suit.
- What is the difference between the FCC and the FTC on robocalls?
- The FCC implements the TCPA and its rules carry the private right of action. The FTC implements a separate statute through the Telemarketing Sales Rule, operates the registry, and enforces by civil penalty. Both cover the registry; the FCC covers entities outside FTC jurisdiction.
- Are FCC rulings binding on courts?
- Not in private TCPA cases since McLaughlin Chiropractic v. McKesson (2025). Courts give them respectful consideration but interpret the statute independently. Regulations remain in force unless set aside on review.