Pennsylvania Do Not Call List and Telemarketing Law: What Act 47 of 2026 Changes

Pennsylvania’s list is still separate

Pennsylvania did not merge its list into the federal one. The Telemarketer Registration Act (Act 147 of 1996) has the Attorney General’s Bureau of Consumer Protection contract with a nonprofit administrator to keep the state list, which is updated quarterly. A telemarketer may not call a number beginning 30 days after it appears on a quarterly list.

• Register: on the Attorney General’s Do Not Call page (up to seven numbers) or by calling the Do Not Call hotline at 1-888-777-3406.
• Who can list: residential and wireless subscribers, and business lines since the 2019 amendment.
• How long it lasts: until the number stops being valid or you ask to be removed.
• Complain: use the Attorney General’s online Do Not Call complaint form. The office notes it “cannot act as your private attorney.”

Sign up on the federal registry at donotcall.gov as well. The federal list is what supports a private TCPA lawsuit.

Act 47 of 2026: what changes and when

Senate Bill 992 became Act 47 of 2026 when Governor Josh Shapiro approved it on July 20, 2026. It takes effect 90 days after enactment, which falls in mid-October 2026. Until then, the older rules apply. Here is what changes:

Legal holidays remain off-limits for solicitation calls. Robocalls must still start with a notice and offer an automated opt-out within two seconds of naming the caller and the seller, and robocall voicemails must include a toll-free number to reach that opt-out. Callers must disclose promptly who they are, who they work for, and what they are selling, and must end the call when you say you want it to end.

Before the bill passed, Attorney General Dave Sunday said it would give his office another tool against caller ID spoofing and robocalls, which he described as tools criminals use to steal from seniors and other vulnerable Pennsylvanians.

Other rules telemarketers must follow

• Registration and bond: telemarketers must register with the Attorney General at least 30 days before selling, and post a $50,000 bond. Failing to register is a second-degree misdemeanor.
• Caller ID: no hiding or falsifying the caller’s name or number, and no defeating call-screening tools.
• Written contracts: a sale made during a telemarketing call must be put into a signed written contract that says, “You are not obligated to pay any money unless you sign this contract and return it to the seller.” Many types of sellers are exempt.
• Federal rules imported: violating the FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule or the federal Truth in Caller ID provisions is also a violation of the Pennsylvania Act.

Can you sue under Pennsylvania’s telemarketing law?

This is the honest weak point. The Telemarketer Registration Act has no damages remedy of its own, and Act 47 did not add one. Instead, a violation is also a violation of the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL). That law’s private action is limited to a person who “purchases or leases goods or services” for personal use and “thereby suffers any ascertainable loss of money or property.” Such a person may recover actual damages or $100, whichever is greater, up to three times actual damages, plus attorney fees (73 P.S. 201-9.2).

So if you bought something through an illegal telemarketing call, you may have a UTPCPL claim. If you only received unwanted calls and bought nothing, a state law claim is unlikely. We found no Pennsylvania appellate ruling that says otherwise. One small consolation: when the Attorney General collects a civil penalty on a do not call complaint, the statute directs the office to send 10 percent to the person who complained, capped at $100.

How Pennsylvanians actually recover: the TCPA

For most people in Pennsylvania, the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act is the lawsuit. The federal do not call claim needs two things: your number on the national registry, and at least two sales calls from the same company within a year. When both are present, the statute allows up to $500 for each violation, and a court can triple that for willful or knowing conduct. Robocalls with an artificial or prerecorded voice and no consent support their own federal count. See the TCPA overview and our page on federal calling hours, which are wider than the new Pennsylvania window.

Pennsylvania enforcement

In Blue Pilot Energy, LLC v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (Pa. Commw. Ct. Oct. 27, 2020), the court upheld against an excessive fines challenge a $1,066,900 civil penalty imposed on an electricity supplier. The violations in that case included failing to give customers written contracts, as the Telemarketer Registration Act requires. The court did reverse a separate refund remedy the commission had ordered. On the robocall front, the Attorney General joined the multistate “Operation Robocall Roundup” in August 2025 and its second phase in December 2025, aimed at voice providers carrying illegal calls.

What to do next in Pennsylvania

Register on both the state and federal lists. From mid-October 2026, note any sales call before 9 a.m., after 7 p.m., or on a Sunday, and screenshot any marketing text after you reply STOP. File each complaint with the Attorney General. If you are on the federal registry and keep getting calls, a TCPA claim may be worth a look; our guide on whether you need a lawyer explains your options. Note that Laurence Banville is not admitted in Pennsylvania, so a Pennsylvania matter may be referred to or handled with co-counsel, and you will be told first. Compare other states on the state law hub.