Tennessee requires telephone solicitors to register with the Public Utility Commission, bars solicitations to numbers on its do not call and do not text register, limits residential solicitations to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., and since July 2026 caps prerecorded message solicitations.
From official sources, checked September 26, 2026. General information, not legal advice.
Every telephone solicitor soliciting Tennessee residential subscribers must register with the Commission by application and pay an annual registration fee by May 1, covering July 1 through June 30. The application asks whether the solicitor uses automated dialing and announcing devices or predictive dialers, names any outsourced telemarketer, and requires a registered agent for service of process located in Tennessee. A principal solicitor may register as a group and share its copy of the register with independent solicitors that contract only with it, and both can be liable for the independent solicitor's violations.
The Commission keeps a register of Tennessee residential subscribers who have chosen not to receive telephone solicitations, and it includes Tennessee subscribers from any federal do not call or do not text database. Registrants must make sure they have the most recent version before soliciting. Knowingly making a solicitation to a number on the register violates the statute and the rules, and violators face civil penalties payable to the Commission. It is a defense that the solicitor set up and used, with due care, reasonable practices and procedures to prevent violations.
The rules define telephone solicitation as a voice or text communication, from Tennessee or elsewhere, meant to encourage a purchase, rental, or investment, including communications to set appointments, interviews, or consultations, to conduct a survey, or to offer a giveaway. Excluded are communications with the subscriber's prior express permission, communications by a bona fide member of a tax exempt nonprofit, communications to an existing customer with a business relationship in the prior 12 months, and occasional isolated contacts by a direct employee of a business that does not engage in telephone solicitation, subject to conditions that include a limit of three a calendar week.
No telephone solicitor may call or text a residential subscriber at any time other than 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location, without the subscriber's prior express permission. Every solicitation must clearly state at the start who is calling and the entity the caller represents, and the solicitor must give a telephone number answered while solicitations are being made by someone willing and able to give information about the call. A voice call made with an automated dialing device must state the caller's name and number within the first 25 seconds and again at the end.
Public Chapter 1029 of 2026 added a new section to the do not call law. Anyone making telephone solicitations with an automated telephone dialing system that delivers artificial or prerecorded voice messages to Tennessee residential subscribers must keep a record of how many it makes each month. Beginning October 1, 2026, those making at least 500 a month must send copies to the Commission at least once every six months, and on request to the Commission or the Attorney General. No person may make more than 10,000 such solicitations a month, and a violation of that cap is also an unfair or deceptive act under the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977.
Telephone solicitors may not knowingly use any method to block or interfere with a residential subscriber's caller ID. After the Commission forwards a complaint, the solicitor must file a written response within 10 business days. After notice and a hearing, the Commission may order local exchange companies to stop providing service to a solicitor found in violation. The rules also require solicitors to follow state and federal telephone solicitation laws, including the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act.
Business telephone subscribers may not be included on the register, and the rules on calling hours and disclosures speak of residential subscribers. The rules define a business telephone subscriber as a person or company that subscribes to business telephone service from a local exchange carrier. Separately, the rules treat the use of residential telephone service to operate a business as express permission for purposes of the rules.
Yes, under the Commission's rules. The definition says communications to set appointments, interviews, or consultations are included when made with the intent that they will ultimately result in a purchase, rental, or investment.
The rules let a principal solicitor register as a group and share its copy of the register with independent solicitors, meaning telephone solicitors with an agreement with one and only one principal solicitor. The principal must list them in its application and give them notice of the rules.
The statute requires reports beginning October 1, 2026 from anyone making at least 500 prerecorded message solicitations a month to Tennessee residential subscribers. The Commission's public notice says reports are due April 1 and October 1 each year, with the first due April 1, 2027.
Checked September 26, 2026. Every fact on this page comes from these official sources. General information, not legal advice: rules change, so confirm with the cited statute or agency and with counsel.
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