Do not call or text list: what it covers, who must obey it, and how to stay legal

Last updated 2026-07-09

What is the do not call or text list, exactly?

The National Do Not Call Registry is a federal database run jointly by the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission ^[1]. Consumers add their phone numbers to opt out of telemarketing calls and texts they never asked for. The registry launched in 2003 under the Do-Not-Call Implementation Act. It held more than 249 million registered numbers as of FY 2023 ^[1].

Here is the part people miss. It covers texts. The FCC treats an SMS sent to sell something exactly like a telemarketing phone call under the TCPA. If a number sits on the Do Not Call list, you cannot call it and you cannot text it for marketing without prior express written consent. The registry does not care which channel you use.

The statute underneath all of this is 47 U.S.C. 227, better known as the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). The FTC enforces the registry rules through 16 C.F.R. Part 310, the Telemarketing Sales Rule. The FCC enforces the TCPA itself ^[2]. Two agencies, two sets of enforcement tools. In practice a single call can draw FTC action under the TSR and FCC action under the TCPA at the same time.

For more on how the registry itself works, see our overview of the do not call list.

Does the do not call list apply to text messages?

Yes. A text message counts as a "call" under the TCPA, and the FCC has held this line since its 2012 rules update ^[3]. Send a marketing SMS to a registered number without prior express written consent and you have a violation, same as a voice call.

The FCC's 2012 order set the standard clearly: "prior express written consent" is required for autodialed or prerecorded telemarketing calls and texts to wireless numbers ^[3]. Being on the registry does not carve out a texting exception. Registered number, no consent, no text.

Here is the wrinkle. Most cell numbers are already covered by a separate TCPA rule that demands express written consent before you hit them with an autodialer, whether or not they sit on the registry. So texting usually means clearing two hurdles at once: the number cannot be on the DNC list, and you need prior express written consent for anything auto-sent. Both apply together. Miss either and you are exposed.

This matters most for mobile phone do not call list compliance, because a cell phone carries the wireless autodialer rule and the registry ban in the same number.

Who has to follow the do not call or text rules?

Anyone who makes a telephone solicitation. The FTC defines that as a call or text meant to sell goods or services ^[2]. In-house sales teams, third-party call centers, lead generators, vendors dialing on someone else's behalf, all covered. If your brand profits from the call, you are the seller, and you are on the hook even when a contractor pushed the button.

Exemptions are real, but they are narrow. The registry rules do not apply to:

• Calls or texts to customers you already have a relationship with. Under the FTC's rule, an established business relationship (EBR) from a prior purchase lasts 18 months. An EBR from an inquiry or application lasts 3 months ^[2].
• Calls made with prior express written consent, meaning the consumer signed off on this specific kind of contact.
• Calls by or on behalf of tax-exempt nonprofits.
• Non-commercial calls. Surveys, political calls, and informational calls are generally exempt, though state laws can differ.

Charitable solicitations get a partial pass under the FTC rule. But the TCPA still governs automated calls to cell phones, even for nonprofits, so "we're a nonprofit" is not a blanket shield.

Run a B2B outbound team calling business numbers? The registry does not touch those calls. Be careful anyway. A business number answered at a home-based business may be registered, and the exemption gets murky fast. When you cannot tell, scrub.

For detail on who must scrub and how, see our piece on do not call telemarketer list obligations.

How do you actually get access to the do not call list for scrubbing?

You get the registry through the FTC's official portal at donotcall.gov. To download numbers, your company registers for Telemarketer Access, pays an annual fee tied to how many area codes you need, and certifies that you will use the data only for compliance scrubbing ^[4].

The fee structure as of 2024 looks like this:

Area codes needed	Annual fee
5 or fewer	Free
Each additional area code	$75 per area code
Full national list (all area codes)	$21,782 (FY 2024 cap, adjusted annually)

Those figures come from the FTC's fee schedule at donotcall.gov ^[4]. The cap moves every year with inflation, so check the current number before you budget.

Once you are in, you download numbers by area code or grab the full national file. Your job is to scrub your calling list against that data no more than 31 days before you call any given number ^[2]. That 31-day window is the safe harbor. If a number joined the registry after your last scrub, you have a defense. Scrub every 30 days and you stay comfortably inside it.

For a step-by-step walkthrough of the download process, see how do i get the do not call list.

What does it cost to violate the do not call or text list?

Every call or text to a registered number is its own violation. Under 47 U.S.C. 227(c)(5), a consumer can sue privately for up to $500 per violation, or up to $1,500 if the court finds the violation was willful or knowing ^[5]. The FTC can also pursue civil penalties under the Telemarketing Sales Rule. As of 2024, the maximum civil penalty per violation is $51,744, adjusted annually for inflation ^[6].

These numbers stack fast. One blast to 10,000 registered numbers is 10,000 separate violations at up to $1,500 each, before any class action multiplier touches it.

DNC cases have produced some of the largest consumer protection settlements on record. In 2022 the FTC sued and settled with several robocall operations for tens of millions of dollars ^[6]. Separately, the FCC hit a Texas-based operation with a $225 million fine in 2021 for spoofed robocalls, though collecting big FCC forfeiture orders often drags through court ^[7].

For small teams, the private lawsuit is the faster threat. Class actions are common because every class member adds a $500 or $1,500 claim, which turns even a modest contact list into seven-figure exposure. One frequently cited figure from a 2021 WebRecon analysis put average TCPA class action settlements at $6.4 million between 2010 and 2020. Treat that as directional, not gospel. The sampling and methodology have real limits.

See the full breakdown of how fines get assessed in our do not call list reference.

How long does a number stay on the do not call or text list?

Forever. The FTC killed the old five-year expiration back in 2008. A number now stays on the registry indefinitely unless the consumer removes it or the number gets disconnected and reassigned ^[1].

Reassignment is a genuine trap. When a registered consumer's number moves to a new person, that new person may or may not be registered. Plenty of callers have been burned dialing numbers they thought were clean because the old owner had consented. The FCC's 2021 reassigned-number safe harbor tells callers to check a reassigned number database before dialing, but that rule targets consent-based calling rather than DNC scrubbing ^[8]. The two problems overlap in the real world anyway.

The takeaway is simple. Scrub every 31 days, no exceptions. A six-month-old scrub is worthless because new numbers hit the registry every day. The FTC reported roughly 4.6 million new numbers added in FY 2023 alone ^[1].

Is there an international do not call list?

No. There is no single global do not call list. Every country runs its own registry, and they do not share data.

The US registry covers US numbers only. Call or text consumers in another country and you have to check that country's rules on their own terms. Here is a quick reference:

Country	Registry name	Enforcing body
United States	National Do Not Call Registry	FTC / FCC
Canada	National Do Not Call List (DNCL)	CRTC
United Kingdom	Telephone Preference Service (TPS)	ICO
Australia	Do Not Call Register	ACMA
India	National Do Not Call Registry (DND)	TRAI

Canada's DNCL runs through the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission and covers residential and wireless numbers. Fines can reach CAD $1,500 per violation for individuals and CAD $15,000 for businesses ^[9]. The UK's TPS is free for consumers to join and gets enforced by the Information Commissioner's Office under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations.

Common mistake among US outbound teams: assuming a US country code means the FTC registry applies. If your lead data mixes in numbers from other countries, you check each country's regime. No shortcut exists.

For US-focused teams, the international question mostly surfaces when you vet offshore call center vendors. If a vendor dials US numbers on your behalf from outside the country, you as the seller are still liable under the TCPA. Jurisdiction follows the consumer, not the caller.

What state do not call lists exist on top of the federal one?

As of mid-2025, more than half of US states run their own do not call registries or restrictions layered on the federal list. Some are additive, meaning you comply with both federal and state rules. Others track the federal standard closely.

States with notably stricter or broader rules include:

• Florida: The state DNC list adds restrictions beyond federal rules, and the Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA) got major amendments in 2021 and again in 2023. It is one of the most litigated state TCPA analogs in the country ^[10].
• Indiana: Indiana keeps a separate state DNC list businesses must scrub on top of the federal registry ^[11].
• Pennsylvania: The PA registry covers categories of calls the federal rules leave out ^[12].

The governing principle: state law can be stricter than federal law. It cannot be looser. If your state bans a category of call the FTC exempts, you follow the state ban.

See our state-specific guides for florida do not call list, indiana do not call list, and do not call list pa for the exact rules in each jurisdiction.

How do you set up an internal do not call or text list?

Scrubbing the federal registry is only half the job. The FTC and FCC both require your company to keep its own internal Do Not Call list. When someone asks you to stop calling or texting, you honor that request within 30 days and keep them on your internal list for at least five years ^[2].

That internal list stands apart from the national registry. A consumer who never registered with the FTC can still tell you personally to leave them alone, and you must comply. Ignore that request and you have a violation, even though the number is nowhere on the federal list.

Here is the minimum viable internal DNC process:

1. Every opt-out request (verbal, SMS STOP reply, email unsubscribe, any channel) gets logged with a timestamp. 2. The number lands on your internal suppression file within 24 to 48 hours, tops. 3. Before any outbound campaign, your dialer or SMS platform suppresses internal-file numbers on top of the federal scrub. 4. Your suppression file never gets purged without legal review. Five years is the floor, not the ceiling.

CRM and dialer tools often call this a "suppression list" or "opt-out list." The name changes, the legal requirement does not.

LeadCompliant's free compliance toolkit includes a suppression list template and a 31-day scrub reminder checklist if you want a ready-made starting point.

For more on accessing the federal side, see our dnc registry guide.

What if a consumer complains or reports you to the do not call list?

Consumers report violations at donotcall.gov. The FTC uses those reports to spot patterns, build cases, and pick enforcement targets ^[13]. One report rarely triggers an investigation. Thousands of complaints tied to the same company or phone number do.

The FCC takes complaints through its consumer complaint center at fcc.gov. State attorneys general accept them too and often coordinate with the FTC.

Get a complaint letter or a lawsuit demand? The clock is running. Do not ignore it. Many TCPA plaintiff attorneys send demand letters before they file, and some settle for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Ignore the letter and you invite a lawsuit with $1,500 per-violation exposure plus attorney's fees.

Documentation is your defense. Your scrub logs (date, source file, match results), your consent records, your internal DNC list, your EBR records. Show a clean scrub within 31 days and no matching hit, and you have a statutory safe harbor under 47 U.S.C. 227(c)(5).

For guidance on filing or responding to a report, see do not call list report.

What is the do not call list phone number consumers use to register?

Consumers register by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the phone number they want to add. Registration takes effect within 31 days ^[1]. They can also sign up online at donotcall.gov.

Registration is free and permanent. A registered number never expires unless the consumer removes it or loses the number. No fee, no annual renewal, no proof required.

Consumers who want to confirm a number is already registered, and businesses that want to verify a specific number's status, can use the FTC's lookup tool at donotcall.gov. For more detail see do not call list number.

Are there any legitimate reasons to call or text a number on the list?

A few. They are narrower than most callers assume.

The established business relationship (EBR) exemption lets you contact a prior customer for up to 18 months after their last purchase, payment, or delivery. It also covers a prospect who inquired about your product for up to 3 months after that inquiry ^[2]. The word that matters is "prior." The relationship has to already exist. You cannot manufacture it with the call you are about to make.

Express written consent beats everything. If a consumer signed up for SMS marketing, filled out a web form agreeing to calls, or gave written permission for your company specifically, that consent holds even when the number is on the registry. The consent has to be written (electronic is fine), specific to your company, and not buried in fine print that hides what it means. The FCC's 2024 rule update tightened this further, requiring consent to be "logically and topically associated" with the message content ^[3].

For the political operation or charity that keeps asking: political calls, nonprofit solicitations, and purely informational calls (think appointment reminders with zero marketing) are generally exempt from the registry under federal law. But autodialed calls to cell phones still need express consent no matter the purpose, so the cell phone rule can catch you even when the DNC registry lets you through.

So the rule is short. Documented EBR or valid written consent, keep the paper. It is your entire defense if a suit lands.

For a focused look at what the government-operated registry covers and what it does not, see government do not call list.

How should your team check if a number is on the do not call list before dialing?

Three ways: a manual lookup through the FTC portal, a bulk file download and comparison, or a third-party scrubbing service.

Manual lookup handles one-offs and nothing more. Any campaign above a few dozen numbers needs bulk scrubbing. The FTC portal lets you download the national file or specific area code files once you pay the annual fee and finish the certification. You then compare your lead list against that file before you dial.

Most outbound teams land on one of two approaches.

DIY bulk scrub: Download the FTC file, compare it against your CRM or dialer list with a script or a spreadsheet VLOOKUP, and log the date and results. Free if you need five or fewer area codes. It does require someone to own the process and set recurring reminders for the 31-day refresh.

Third-party scrubbing services: Vendors like Gryphon, Contact Center Compliance, and DNC.com pull the federal list plus many state lists, run your numbers against all of them, and hand back a clean file. Prices run roughly $0.001 to $0.01 per number depending on volume and service level, which is cheap next to legal exposure.

For the ftc do not call list itself, the FTC's own portal is the source of truth. No vendor's data is fresher than the file you pull straight from donotcall.gov. Good vendors just automate what you could do by hand.

LeadCompliant offers a free number-checker tool for spot-checking individual numbers before a campaign goes live.

Frequently asked questions

Does the do not call list cover text messages as well as phone calls?

Yes. The FCC treats marketing text messages as "calls" under the TCPA. If a number is on the National Do Not Call Registry, sending a marketing SMS to it without prior express written consent is a violation, carrying the same $500 to $1,500 per-message penalty as a voice call. Scrub your text lists against the registry exactly the way you scrub your call lists.

How long does it take for a number to appear on the do not call list after registration?

Under the FTC's rules, callers must honor a new registration within 31 days. Numbers usually show up in the downloadable registry file within 24 hours, but the 31-day window is your legal obligation as a caller. Any number registered more than 31 days before your scrub date is protected, and you must not contact it.

Is there a do not text list separate from the do not call list?

No separate federal registry exists for texts. The National Do Not Call Registry covers both. The FCC's TCPA rules add a second requirement for texts: autodialed or prerecorded messages to cell phones need prior express written consent regardless of registry status. So cell phone texting carries two compliance requirements at the same time.

How often do I have to scrub my list against the do not call registry?

Every 31 days. The FTC and FCC both require callers to scrub against a version of the registry no more than 31 days old at the time each call is made. Scrubbing monthly works if you refresh on a strict schedule. Many compliance teams scrub weekly to keep a buffer against slippage.

What is the difference between the national do not call list and a company's internal do not call list?

The national registry is the federal database where consumers opt out of all telemarketing. Your internal list is your own suppression file of people who told you specifically to stop. You maintain both. The FTC requires you to honor a personal opt-out request within 30 days and keep that number on your internal list for at least five years.

Can I still call someone on the do not call list if they are a previous customer?

Yes, if you have an established business relationship. The FTC allows calls to prior purchasers for up to 18 months after the last transaction, and to people who recently inquired for up to 3 months. The EBR has to already exist before you dial. Keep records of every purchase date and inquiry date so you can prove the EBR if it gets challenged.

Are political calls and texts exempt from the do not call list?

Political calls are generally exempt from the National Do Not Call Registry under federal law. But the TCPA's autodialer rules still apply to cell phones: an autodialed or prerecorded political call to a wireless number needs prior express consent, even though the DNC registry does not cover it. Manually dialed political calls to cell phones are generally allowed without consent.

How does the do not call list work for business-to-business calls?

The National Do Not Call Registry applies only to calls to residential subscribers. B2B calls to listed business numbers are generally exempt. The exception is a business number that doubles as someone's home (a home-based business), where the line between residential and business use blurs. When your data includes any home numbers, scrub them regardless.

What states have their own do not call lists in addition to the federal one?

More than half of US states keep supplemental registries or DNC rules. Florida, Indiana, and Pennsylvania are among the most active. State rules can be stricter than federal rules, so you comply with both. A number missing from the federal registry could still sit on a state list. If you call consumers across multiple states, scrub each relevant state list separately.

What happens if my vendor or call center calls a number on the do not call list?

You are still liable as the seller. The FTC and FCC hold the brand responsible for calls made on its behalf, even by outside vendors. A contractor is not a liability shield. Put contract language in place requiring vendors to certify DNC compliance, and audit their scrub logs regularly. Joint liability in TCPA suits is common.

Is there an international do not call list I can check for global outreach?

No single international registry exists. Each country runs its own. The US registry covers US numbers only. Canada has the DNCL (run by the CRTC), the UK has the TPS (enforced by the ICO), and Australia has its own Do Not Call Register (run by ACMA). If you contact consumers in other countries, you research and comply with each country's rules separately.

How do I register my number on the do not call list?

Consumers register at donotcall.gov or by calling 1-888-382-1222 from the number they want to add. Registration is free and permanent. The number is protected within 31 days. You can register up to three numbers per email address online, or add one number per call using the toll-free line.

Can I be sued privately for calling a number on the do not call list?

Yes. 47 U.S.C. 227(c)(5) gives consumers the right to sue for up to $500 per violation, or $1,500 per violation if the court finds it willful. TCPA suits are common and often filed as class actions where each member adds a separate claim. Keep your scrub logs and consent records so you can raise a safe harbor defense if sued.

How do I find out if my business number is registered on the do not call list by mistake?

Check at donotcall.gov using the number verification tool. If your business number got registered (maybe by an employee or a former owner), you can remove it through the same portal. For B2B outbound the registry does not apply to business-to-business calls anyway, but if your business line is also your personal cell, removal saves you confusion later.

Sources

1. FTC, National Do Not Call Registry Data Book FY 2023: Registry has more than 249 million registered numbers; 4.6 million new numbers added in FY 2023; registrations are permanent since 2008
2. FTC, Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 310: 31-day scrub requirement; established business relationship duration (18 months/3 months); internal DNC list 5-year retention; exemptions for nonprofits and EBR
3. FTC, National Do Not Call Registry Fees for Telemarketers: Five or fewer area codes free; $75 per additional area code; FY 2024 national list cap approximately $21,782
4. 47 U.S.C. 227, Telephone Consumer Protection Act: $500 per violation private right of action; up to $1,500 for willful violations; consumers may sue directly under 227(c)(5)
5. FTC, Legal Library and civil penalty adjustments: Maximum TSR civil penalty per violation $51,744 as of 2024; FTC robocall settlements in the tens of millions in 2022
6. CRTC, Canada's National Do Not Call List: Canada's DNCL fines up to CAD $1,500 per violation for individuals, CAD $15,000 for organizations
7. Florida Legislature, Florida Telephone Solicitation Act (FTSA), Fla. Stat. 501.059: FTSA amended 2021 and 2023 with stricter requirements than federal TCPA for Florida consumers
8. Indiana Attorney General, Indiana Do Not Call List: Indiana maintains a separate state DNC list businesses must scrub in addition to the federal registry
9. Pennsylvania Attorney General, Pennsylvania Do Not Call Registry: Pennsylvania's state DNC registry covers categories of calls not covered at the federal level
10. FTC, Report Unwanted Calls at donotcall.gov: Consumer complaints filed at donotcall.gov are used by the FTC to identify patterns and build enforcement cases