§ 2245.2. Unwanted telephone solicitation calls prohibited
Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes and Consolidated StatutesTitle 73 P.S. Trade and CommerceEffective: December 3, 2019
Effective: December 3, 2019
73 P.S. § 2245.2
§ 2245.2. Unwanted telephone solicitation calls prohibited
(a) General rule.--No telemarketer shall initiate or cause to be initiated a telephone solicitation call to a telephone number of a residential or business telephone subscriber who does not wish to receive telephone solicitation calls and has caused his 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 or business telephone subscriber's name, address and residential 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 and business telephone subscribers currently enrolled on the do-not-call list and any residential 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 and business telephone subscribers currently enrolled with the opportunity to remove their information from the do-not-call list.
(b) Listings.--Telemarketers making telephone solicitation calls 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.
(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 solicitation calls. 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.
(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.
(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),1 known as the Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law.
(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.
(ii) Shall provide notice to a called number, at the beginning of the call, stating how a called person can opt out of receiving future telephone solicitation calls 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 person 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 person shall be able to opt out throughout the duration of the call.
(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 person 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 person's number to the do-not-call list of the telemarketer or telemarketing business.
Credits
1996, Dec. 4, P.L. 911, No. 147, § 5.2, added 2002, April 2, P.L. 221, No. 24, § 2, effective in 60 days. Amended 2003, Sept. 12, P.L. 105, No. 22, § 2, imd. effective; 2019, Oct. 4, P.L. 447, No. 73, § 4, effective in 60 days [Dec. 3, 2019].
Footnotes
73 P.S. § 201-1 et seq.
73 P.S. § 2245.2, PA ST 73 P.S. § 2245.2
Current through Act 10 of the 2024 Regular Session. Some statute sections may be more current, see credits for details.
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