Last updated 2026-07-11
TL;DR
This article walks through the core TCPA rules as quiz-style questions with plain-English answers. It covers consent, calling hours, the Do Not Call Registry, what counts as an autodialer, and per-call fines of $500 to $1,500. Use it to train reps, run a team quiz, or self-test before an audit. The statute is 47 U.S.C. § 227 [1].
Why give sales reps a TCPA quiz at all?
Most TCPA lawsuits don't start with a scheming executive. They start with a rep who didn't know the rules, dialed a cell phone from an autodialer without written consent, or called a number sitting on the National Do Not Call Registry. One call. One plaintiff. One lawsuit.
The per-violation penalties under 47 U.S.C. § 227 are $500 for an unintentional violation and up to $1,500 for a willful or knowing one [1]. Courts certify class actions covering millions of calls, so a gap at the rep level turns into an eight-figure number fast. The Cash App TCPA settlement hit $7.25 million over unsolicited texts [2], and that's a small one.
A short quiz does two things. It measures whether your reps actually understand the rules, not whether they clicked through a training slide. And it builds a paper trail showing your team got trained, which matters if you ever need to argue good-faith conduct in court.
This article gives you the questions, the right answers, and the reasoning behind each one. Read it straight through, or jump to the sections that match your team's weak spots.
What is the TCPA and which calls does it cover?
The TCPA is the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a 1991 federal law codified at 47 U.S.C. § 227 [1]. It governs calls and texts to residential lines, cell phones, and fax machines, especially those made with an autodialer or a prerecorded voice.
Quiz question 1: What does TCPA stand for, and what year did it become law?
Answer: The Telephone Consumer Protection Act, enacted in 1991 and codified at 47 U.S.C. § 227 [1].
Quiz question 2: Which types of calls and messages does the TCPA cover?
Answer: Calls and texts to residential lines, cell phones, and fax machines made with an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS) or a prerecorded voice. It also covers telemarketing calls to residential lines even without an ATDS. A manual, one-to-one call from a human rep on a non-autodialer phone to a business landline usually sits outside the core ATDS restrictions, though DNC registration rules still apply [1].
The law is not only about telemarketers. Banks, debt collectors, nonprofits, and political campaigns can all face TCPA claims if they break the rules. That surprises a lot of new sales managers who assume TCPA is somebody else's problem.
For a plain-English breakdown of the full statute, see our overview of the tcpa.
What counts as an autodialer under the TCPA?
An autodialer, or ATDS, is equipment that can store or produce phone numbers using a random or sequential number generator and then dial them [1]. The Supreme Court tightened that definition in 2021. Whether a predictive dialer still qualifies is genuinely contested.
Quiz question 3: Under the TCPA, what is an automatic telephone dialing system (ATDS)?
Answer: The statute defines an ATDS as equipment with the capacity to store or produce telephone numbers using a random or sequential number generator, and to dial those numbers [1]. In Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid (2021), the Supreme Court held that a device must use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers to qualify [3]. The Court wrote that an ATDS "must have the capacity either to store a telephone number using a random or sequential generator or to produce a telephone number using a random or sequential number generator."
Quiz question 4: Does a predictive dialer count as an ATDS?
Answer: Contested, and nobody has a clean answer. The FCC historically treated predictive dialers as autodialers [4], but Duguid narrowed the statutory definition. Some courts after Duguid excluded predictive dialers; others still find they qualify. If your team runs a predictive dialer, get a current legal opinion rather than assuming you're clear.
The practical rule for reps: if your software dials numbers automatically, without a human clicking each call, treat ATDS rules as if they apply until your legal team says otherwise. That's the conservative call, and it keeps you out of trouble.
Quiz question 5: If a rep manually dials every number from a list, do ATDS consent rules apply?
Answer: No. Manual dialing from a non-ATDS device to a cell phone doesn't trigger the ATDS consent requirement. But DNC rules, state laws, and prerecorded-message rules can still apply. Manual dialing is not a blanket exemption.
What are the TCPA calling hours rules?
Telemarketers can't call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. in the recipient's local time [5]. The window follows the person you're calling, not the person dialing. Consent doesn't override it.
Quiz question 6: What hours can telemarketers legally call consumers?
Answer: Under the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), telemarketers may not call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m. local time at the called party's location [5]. The FCC's TCPA rules mirror this for residential lines [4].
Quiz question 7: Does the 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window follow the caller's time zone or the recipient's?
Answer: The recipient's. This trips people up constantly. If your team is in New York and you're calling Los Angeles, you can't legally dial before 8 a.m. Pacific, which is 11 a.m. Eastern. A 9 a.m. Eastern call to California is a violation.
Build time-zone scrubbing into your dialer. Most compliant cold calling platforms let you set calling windows by area code or verified time-zone data. If yours can't, fix that before your next campaign.
Quiz question 8: Can a consumer's prior written consent override the calling-hours limit?
Answer: No. The calling-hours rule is a hard floor. A consumer can consent to receive calls. They cannot waive the right to not be called at 6 a.m. The time limit stands regardless of consent.
What are the consent requirements for calling cell phones?
Marketing calls or texts to a cell phone using an autodialer or prerecorded voice need prior express written consent [4]. Informational, non-marketing calls need only prior express consent, a lower bar. The written kind has to be a signed agreement and must say consent isn't a condition of buying anything.
Quiz question 9: What consent is required to call a cell phone using an ATDS or prerecorded message for telemarketing?
Answer: Prior express written consent [4]. The FCC's 2012 TCPA Order made this explicit. It means a signed written agreement (electronic is fine) in which the consumer clearly authorizes autodialed or prerecorded marketing calls, and the agreement must clearly disclose that signing isn't required to buy any goods or services [4].
Quiz question 10: What consent is required for informational (non-telemarketing) calls to a cell phone using an ATDS?
Answer: Prior express consent, without the written requirement. That's a lower bar than written consent. But "informational" is narrow. If your call has any marketing content, even a mention of a sale or upsell, it likely crosses into telemarketing and needs written consent.
Quiz question 11: Can a lead vendor supply consent on your behalf?
Answer: In theory yes, if the consent was properly obtained and names your company as an authorized caller. The FCC's 2023 one-to-one consent rule, set to take effect in January 2025, would have required each seller to be individually named [6]. The Eleventh Circuit vacated that rule in January 2025, so the older "lead generator loophole" is still alive for now [7]. This corner of the law keeps moving. Check current FCC guidance before you rely on third-party consent.
Consent and opt-in rules are among the most litigated parts of the TCPA. Teams that think they have consent often find gaps the moment a plaintiff's lawyer asks to see the records.
What are the Do Not Call rules every rep must know?
The National Do Not Call Registry is a federal list of numbers, cell and landline, that consumers registered to block telemarketing calls. You must scrub your calling list against it at least every 31 days [5]. An internal opt-out has to be honored immediately and kept for five years [4].
Quiz question 12: What is the National Do Not Call Registry and who runs it?
Answer: A federal database of numbers belonging to consumers who opted out of telemarketing calls. The FTC runs it under the Telemarketing Sales Rule, and the FCC enforces a parallel requirement under the TCPA [5]. See how to get the do not call list for your organization.
Quiz question 13: How often must a company scrub its calling list against the Registry?
Answer: At least every 31 days [5]. You can't scrub once and assume the list stays clean. Numbers get added constantly, and a number that was dialable last month may be registered today.
Quiz question 14: If a consumer asks during a call to be added to your internal do-not-call list, how fast must you comply?
Answer: Immediately, and you must keep that record for at least five years [4]. Your internal DNC list is separate from the National Registry. A consumer who calls back next week and asks again is still protected. Calling someone after an opt-out request is one of the easiest ways to hand a plaintiff a clean TCPA claim.
Quiz question 15: Does the National Registry cover cell phones?
Answer: Yes. Despite a stubborn myth, cell numbers can be registered [9]. Consumers who register their cell numbers get the same protection against unsolicited telemarketing as landline users. See the mobile phone do not call list page for details.
For how DNC lists work in practice, see the do not call list explainer.
What are the TCPA penalties, and how does liability actually add up?
Each call or text is a separate violation worth $500, or up to $1,500 if a court finds willfulness [1]. Consumers can sue directly, no government agency required. And they don't have to prove any actual harm to collect statutory damages.
Quiz question 16: What is the penalty per TCPA violation?
Answer: $500 per violation for unintentional violations, up to $1,500 per violation if a court finds the violation willful or knowing [1]. Each call or text counts separately.
Think about that at scale. A campaign that sends 100,000 texts without proper consent faces $50 million in statutory damages at the $500 floor, or $150 million if a court finds willfulness. That's before attorneys' fees.
Quiz question 17: Can individuals sue under the TCPA, or only government agencies?
Answer: Both. The TCPA has a private right of action, so any person who gets a violating call or text can sue in small claims or federal court without waiting on a regulator [1]. That's why class actions are so common. One plaintiff with a small claim can stand in for millions of identical ones.
The Credit One case is a real example worth reading. The credit one tcpa settlement shows how these cases build when a debt collector calls without proper consent.
Quiz question 18: Does TCPA liability require that the consumer suffered actual harm?
Answer: No. Statutory damages of $500 to $1,500 per violation are available with no proof of harm. Under many court readings, the unwanted call or text is itself the injury for standing purposes, though circuits occasionally split on the point.
TCPA rules for text message marketing: what do reps get wrong?
A text sent via an autodialer gets treated like a call under the TCPA [4]. Marketing texts to cell phones need prior express written consent. An inbound text from a consumer doesn't automatically grant you the right to market to them.
Quiz question 19: Do the consent rules for autodialed calls apply to marketing texts?
Answer: Yes. The FCC treats texts sent via an ATDS the same as calls [4]. Marketing texts to cell phones need prior express written consent. Quick-reply opt-ins, checkboxes buried in terms of service, and verbal consent collected by a rep don't meet the written standard.
Quiz question 20: What must a marketing text include to be compliant?
Answer: TSR and FCC guidance generally require the message to identify the sender, offer a clear opt-out (usually STOP), and honor opt-outs promptly. The FCC's rules also require that the initial written consent disclose that message and data rates may apply and give an estimate of message frequency [4].
Quiz question 21: If a consumer texts your business first, can you reply with marketing?
Answer: Not automatically. An inbound text shows some interest but doesn't by itself count as written consent for an ongoing marketing campaign. The consumer's message has to include a clear opt-in for future marketing, or you collect that consent separately.
For a fuller look at how text message marketing works under the TCPA, that page covers the opt-in mechanics. The do not call telemarketer list rules also reach SMS campaigns in some states.
What are the established business relationship and exemption rules?
An established business relationship (EBR) can let you call a DNC-registered number for a limited window, up to 18 months after a purchase or 3 months after an inquiry [5]. That's a DNC exemption only. It does not substitute for the written consent you need to autodial a cell phone.
Quiz question 22: Does an EBR let you call a DNC-registered number?
Answer: For the National Registry, yes, within limits. A business has up to 18 months after a consumer's last purchase or transaction to call them, even if they're registered, and up to 3 months after an inquiry or application [5]. But the exemption dies the moment that consumer tells you to stop calling. Once they opt out, the EBR is gone.
Quiz question 23: Does the EBR exemption apply to autodialed cell phone calls?
Answer: No, not in the same way. The DNC EBR concept is separate from ATDS consent. For autodialed or prerecorded calls to cell phones, you need actual prior express written consent. An existing customer relationship doesn't stand in for that written consent unless the call is purely informational.
This is where a lot of teams get burned. They assume a current customer can be marketed to by autodialed call or text. That assumption is wrong, and it's expensive.
State law questions: what TCPA training misses
State telemarketing laws often go past federal TCPA rules, and the called party's state law controls. Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act, for one, demands written consent with no EBR exemption and adds up to $500 per violation in state damages [8]. Federal TCPA is the floor.
Quiz question 24: Do state telemarketing laws add requirements beyond federal TCPA?
Answer: Yes, sometimes a lot. Florida's Telephone Solicitation Act requires prior express written consent for any automated call or text to a Florida resident, with no EBR exemption, and allows up to $500 per violation in state damages on top of TCPA claims [8]. California's state laws and the CCPA add consent and data-handling layers. Washington, Oklahoma, and others have their own rules.
Quiz question 25: Your company sits in Texas but you're calling people in Florida. Which state's laws apply?
Answer: The called party's. Courts have consistently held that consumer protection statutes protect residents of the state where the call is received, regardless of where the caller sits. You can't pick a friendly home state and apply it to your Florida, California, or Washington contacts.
Running a multi-state outbound campaign without a state-by-state review is one of the fastest ways to stack liability. Federal TCPA is the floor. State law is often the ceiling.
If your team uses free tools to check numbers before dialing, LeadCompliant's free DNC checker and compliance kit can start that state-level scrubbing without a big upfront cost.
How to use these quiz questions to actually train your team
A quiz only matters if it changes behavior. Here's a structure that works, based on how compliance training sticks.
Give the quiz cold, before any training. Don't explain anything first. Record each rep's score. This baseline shows where the real gaps are, not where people assume they are. Consent rules and DNC scrub timing are almost always the weakest spots.
After the baseline, run a one-hour session on the questions most reps missed. Pull up 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(1) on screen [1] and read the actual words. Reps who've seen the statutory text rationalize their way around it less often.
Re-quiz at 30 days and 90 days. Compliance knowledge fades fast, especially for reps whose real job is selling, not law. Five-question refreshers beat annual two-hour courses.
Document all of it. Keep quiz scores, dates, and names on file. In litigation, proof that a rep completed TCPA training and passed a competency quiz is evidence of good-faith effort. It won't kill a lawsuit, but it can move a damages number.
For teams building a full program, the LeadCompliant compliance kit includes DNC scrubbing tools and consent documentation templates that pair with this material.
The cold call compliance checklist is worth reviewing alongside this quiz to make sure your process matches what reps are learning.
Quick reference: TCPA numbers every rep should memorize
Some facts are worth drilling until they're automatic. Here are the core numbers from the statute, FCC rules, and FTC rules that come up most in practice and in court.
| Rule | Number | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Statutory damages (unintentional) | $500 per violation | 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3) [1] |
| Statutory damages (willful) | Up to $1,500 per violation | 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3) [1] |
| Earliest permitted calling hour | 8:00 a.m. (recipient's local time) | FCC 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200 [4] |
| Latest permitted calling hour | 9:00 p.m. (recipient's local time) | FCC 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200 [4] |
| DNC list scrubbing frequency | Every 31 days | FTC TSR, 16 C.F.R. § 310.4 [5] |
| Internal DNC list retention | 5 years minimum | FCC 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200 [4] |
| EBR exemption after purchase | 18 months | FTC TSR, 16 C.F.R. § 310.4 [5] |
| EBR exemption after inquiry | 3 months | FTC TSR, 16 C.F.R. § 310.4 [5] |
| Opt-out honor deadline (FTC TSR) | Next business day at latest | FTC TSR, 16 C.F.R. § 310.4 [5] |
Memorizing these won't make anyone a TCPA lawyer. But a rep who knows that every text without consent can cost $500 to $1,500 thinks twice before blasting a list they haven't scrubbed.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions should a TCPA compliance quiz for sales reps have?
Ten to twenty questions cover the core areas: consent, calling hours, DNC rules, the autodialer definition, and penalties. Short quizzes taken often beat long annual tests for retention. A 10-question quiz given quarterly does more than a 50-question quiz given once a year. Focus on the scenarios reps actually hit in your specific campaign type.
What is the correct answer to 'when can you call someone on the Do Not Call Registry?'
In most cases, you can't. Exceptions include an established business relationship (up to 18 months after a purchase, 3 months after an inquiry), a consumer's prior written permission, and calls from tax-exempt nonprofits. Even with an EBR, if the consumer has specifically asked you to stop, you must stop immediately and permanently.
Do TCPA rules apply to B2B sales calls?
The TCPA's residential and cell phone protections attach to the number being called, not the caller's industry. If a rep calls a prospect's personal cell using a predictive dialer, TCPA rules apply even in a B2B context. Calls to a business's main landline are generally lower risk, but reps should never treat B2B as a blanket exemption.
What is 'prior express written consent' and how do you get it?
It's a signed agreement (physical or electronic) where the consumer clearly authorizes autodialed or prerecorded marketing calls or texts to their number. It must disclose that consent isn't required to buy anything. Web forms with a compliant opt-in checkbox, text-based opt-in flows, and signed paper agreements all qualify if they meet FCC requirements.
Can a sales rep get in personal legal trouble for TCPA violations?
The TCPA mainly targets entities, but courts have held officers or managers with direct control over calling practices personally liable in some cases. More often, a rep whose calls draw lawsuits faces internal discipline, termination, or a civil claim from their own employer. The company usually gets sued first, but personal exposure isn't zero.
What should a rep do if a consumer says 'stop calling me' mid-call?
Treat it as an immediate do-not-call request, confirm it verbally on the call, note it in your CRM in real time, and add the number to your internal DNC list before the next dialing session. The FCC requires the request be honored, and the FTC's TSR requires it be honored by no later than the next business day. Don't call back to 'confirm' the opt-out.
Is there a TCPA exemption for political or nonprofit calls?
Nonprofit calls made without an ATDS or prerecorded message are generally exempt from the prior express consent requirement. Political calls to landlines using prerecorded messages are allowed under some conditions, but calls to cell phones using an ATDS need consent regardless of the caller's nonprofit or political status. States may impose stricter rules.
How does the Facebook v. Duguid Supreme Court ruling affect TCPA training?
The 2021 Facebook v. Duguid decision narrowed the ATDS definition to devices that use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers. That makes it harder for plaintiffs to prove a system is an ATDS if it dials from a stored list without random or sequential generation. Many courts and the FCC still read the boundaries cautiously, so don't train reps to treat Duguid as blanket protection.
What is the difference between the National DNC Registry and an internal DNC list?
The National Registry is a federal database run by the FTC where consumers register numbers to block telemarketing from any company. An internal DNC list is your own record of people who told you specifically not to call. Both matter. A number might not be on the National Registry but still be on your internal list, and vice versa. Scrub against both.
How often should a company train sales reps on TCPA compliance?
At minimum, train new reps before their first outbound campaign and run refreshers at least quarterly. TCPA rules shift through FCC orders, court decisions, and state legislation. A team trained 18 months ago may be running on outdated assumptions today. Document every session with dates, attendee names, and quiz scores.
Does texting require the same consent as autodialed calls under the TCPA?
Yes. The FCC treats texts sent via an ATDS the same as autodialed calls. Marketing texts to cell phones need prior express written consent. Informational texts need prior express consent, a lower standard. Texts to landlines don't fall under this. State laws, especially in Florida and California, can pile on extra consent requirements over federal rules.
What records should a company keep to prove TCPA compliance?
Keep signed consent records (with timestamp, IP address, and opt-in language) for every contact you call or text via ATDS. Keep DNC scrub logs showing when each list was scrubbed and against which Registry version. Keep internal DNC records for at least five years. Keep call logs and recordings where state law permits. Keep training records for all reps.
What happens if a lead vendor provides bad consent records?
You're still liable. Courts have consistently held that TCPA liability follows the caller, not the consent collector. If your vendor's records don't hold up, you pay the damages. Require consent warranties from vendors in the contract, audit a sample of their records before running campaigns, and have a process to verify the consent language meets current FCC standards.
What is a good passing score for a TCPA compliance quiz?
There's no regulatory standard, but most compliance programs set 90 percent as the minimum passing score for TCPA tests, given how costly violations are. Reps who score below that should get one-on-one remediation before dialing, more than a second crack at the quiz. The goal is genuine understanding, not a passing grade on paper.
Sources
- U.S. Congress, Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (via Cornell Legal Information Institute): TCPA statutory text establishing ATDS definition, prohibitions, and $500/$1,500 per-violation damages
- Cash App TCPA class action settlement details, ClassAction.org: Cash App TCPA class action settlement reached $7.25 million over unsolicited texts
- Supreme Court of the United States, Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021): Supreme Court held an ATDS must use a random or sequential number generator to store or produce numbers
- FCC, 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200, Rules and Regulations Implementing the TCPA (via Cornell Legal Information Institute): FCC rules on calling hours (8am-9pm recipient local time), prior express written consent for marketing, internal DNC retention for 5 years
- FTC, Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 310: TSR rules on National DNC Registry, 31-day scrubbing requirement, EBR exemptions (18 months/3 months), opt-out timing
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, Insurance Marketing Coalition Ltd. v. FCC (2025): Eleventh Circuit vacated FCC one-to-one consent rules in January 2025, leaving the prior lead generator consent framework intact
- Florida Legislature, Florida Telephone Solicitation Act, Fla. Stat. § 501.059: Florida FTSA requires prior express written consent for automated calls and texts to Florida residents with $500 per violation in state damages
- FTC / National Do Not Call Registry, consumer information: National DNC Registry covers cell phones as well as landlines; consumers can register cell numbers