Georgia Robocall Law: No-Call Rights, $2,000 Damages and ADAD Permit Rules

Georgia’s list lives inside the federal registry

Many Georgians still search for a separate “Georgia do not call list.” It no longer exists as its own sign-up. The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division says the names and numbers on the Georgia list “were merged into the Federal Do Not Call (DNC) registry after it was established in 2003.” The statute itself tells the Public Service Commission to include the Georgia portion of any national database in the state database (O.C.G.A. 46-5-27(d)(4)).

What that means for you: register once at donotcall.gov or by calling 888-382-1222 from the number you want to list. That registration also counts for the Georgia law. Registration does not expire.

What Georgia’s no-call law requires

O.C.G.A. 46-5-27 applies to “telephone solicitation,” defined as a voice communication over a telephone line that encourages you to buy, rent, or invest in property, goods, or services (46-5-27(b)(3)). It covers residential, mobile, and wireless subscribers. The main rules are:

• No solicitation to a subscriber who has registered an objection, which today means a number on the no-call database (46-5-27(c)).
• At the start of the call, the caller must “state clearly the identity of the person or entity initiating the call” (46-5-27(g)(1)).
• The caller may not knowingly use any method to block or get around your caller ID (46-5-27(g)(2)).

Calls are not telephone solicitations if you gave prior express invitation or permission, if you have an existing business or personal relationship with the caller, or if a registered charity is calling (46-5-27(b)(3)).

Suing under the Georgia statute

The private action in 46-5-27(i) has a threshold. You must have “received more than one telephone solicitation within any 12 month period by or on behalf of the same person or entity” in violation of the no-call rule or the identification and caller ID rules. If you meet it, you may:

1. Sue to stop the calls.
2. Sue for your actual monetary loss from the knowing violation, or up to $2,000 per knowing violation, whichever is greater.
3. Do both.

Three words carry weight here. “Knowing” means you must show the caller knew what it was doing, not merely that a call happened. “Up to” means $2,000 is a ceiling, and a court can award less. And a defendant has a defense if it “established and implemented, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures” to prevent violations (46-5-27(j)). A large company with a real scrubbing program will raise that defense.

The Attorney General can also seek civil penalties of up to $2,000 per knowing violation (46-5-27(h)). The AG’s consumer page describes state-law penalties of up to $5,000 per violation and additional penalties when elderly or disabled consumers are targeted.

Georgia’s robocall permit law

Georgia regulates automatic dialing and announcing devices (ADADs) in a separate statute, O.C.G.A. 46-5-23. It is stricter than most people expect:

• Anyone using ADAD equipment in Georgia must first get a permit from the Public Service Commission and renew it every two years.
• The person receiving the call must give written consent that explains the purpose and how to withdraw. That consent lasts two years.
• Calls only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
• The recorded message must state the caller’s name and phone number within the first 25 seconds and again at the end.
• The device must disconnect within ten seconds after you hang up.

A violation is a misdemeanor, and the PSC can have service cut off if violations do not stop within ten days of notice. We did not find a private damages remedy in 46-5-23 itself. A consumer hurt by an unpermitted robocall would usually rely on the federal TCPA instead; see our page on prerecorded voice calls.

How Georgia’s law compares with the TCPA

The two claims are built on the same trigger, so they usually travel together. The TCPA does not preempt stricter state telephone solicitation rules (47 U.S.C. 227(f)(1)). The Georgia claim’s higher ceiling helps when the calls were plainly knowing, such as calls after you told the company to stop. For the federal side, read our do not call rule explainer.

Where to complain in Georgia

• Attorney General Consumer Protection Division: (404) 651-8600 or toll-free (800) 869-1123, or online through the division’s no-call law page.
• Public Service Commission (for ADAD robocalls): (404) 656-4501 in metro Atlanta or 1-800-282-5813 elsewhere.
• Federal: file at donotcall.gov.

What to do next in Georgia

Confirm your number is on the federal registry, since that is now Georgia’s list. Then track each sales call by date, company, and whether the caller identified itself at the start. Once a second call from the same company lands within 12 months, you meet the statute’s threshold. If you told the caller to stop and it called again, write that down: it is the best evidence of a knowing violation. Our call log guide shows the format, and the state law hub lists Georgia’s neighbors.