Pennsylvania's New Telemarketing Hours and Text Rules: What Calling Teams Should Change

Pennsylvania has broadly rewritten its telemarketing law. Act 47 of 2026, enacted from Senate Bill 992 and signed on July 20, 2026, amends the state's Telemarketer Registration Act and took effect 90 days later, in October. For teams that call or text consumers in Pennsylvania, the changes reach the campaign calendar, the texting platform, and the suppression lists that sit beside every registry scrub.

The headline change is the calling window. Telephone solicitations to Pennsylvania subscribers are now limited to 9 a.m. through 7 p.m., with none on Sundays. That is narrower than the federal window, and a national dialer schedule built around federal hours will place calls the state now prohibits.

This article covers the parts of the Pennsylvania telemarketing law that affect day-to-day list and campaign work: what counts as a solicitation, when it may be sent, which lists must be checked, and how opt-outs should be handled. It is written for the people who build, scrub, and load calling lists for sales teams, call centers, and agencies.

Teams that scrub lists with EasyDNC can upload a file from the EasyDNC home page, check a single number with the Free Test Lookup, or connect a dialer through the EasyDNC API.

Texts, Voicemail, and Ringless Voicemail Now Count

Act 47 replaces the old "telephone solicitation call" definition with a broader "telephone solicitation." The new term covers a telephone call, voicemail, ringless voicemail, or text message made to a residential, business, or wireless subscriber to solicit the sale of consumer goods or services, or to gather information for that purpose.

The practical effect is that every channel in an outbound program now falls under the same state rules. A team that once treated Pennsylvania texting or ringless voicemail drops as outside the state law should review those campaigns with the same hours, list checks, and opt-out handling that apply to live calls.

The definition keeps several exclusions. Messages sent with the subscriber's prior express written consent, messages about an existing debt, contract, payment, or performance, and messages to someone with an established business relationship within the past 12 months are not telephone solicitations under the act. Calls on behalf of certain tax-exempt organizations, veterans organizations, and political candidates or parties are also excluded.

The New Calling Window: 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., No Sundays

Section 5(a)(1) of the amended act now prohibits initiating, or causing to be initiated, a telephone solicitation on a Sunday or after 7 p.m. or before 9 a.m. The prior rule allowed telemarketing from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Solicitations on legal holidays remain prohibited under section 5(a)(10).

The federal rule is wider. Under 47 CFR 64.1200(c)(1), telephone solicitations to residential subscribers may not be made before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m., local time at the called party's location. A November 9 telemarketing update from Taft notes that Pennsylvania's window is also narrower than the 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. limits in states such as Florida, Oklahoma, and Maryland.

For campaign managers, the fix is a state-level rule in the dialer and texting scheduler rather than a single national setting. Because the phrase "causing to be initiated" is in the statute, scheduled text blasts and voicemail drops queued by a vendor deserve the same check as live dialing.

Pennsylvania's Own Do Not Call List Still Applies

Pennsylvania maintains a state do-not-call list in addition to the National Do Not Call Registry. Under section 5.2(b), telemarketers making telephone solicitations must obtain the state listings quarterly, or use a service provider that has obtained and will use them. A listed number is protected starting 30 days after it first appears on a quarterly list.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Do Not Call FAQ explains that the list is distributed through the Direct Marketing Association's list partner. The act also limits use of the list to removing numbers from solicitation lists, so it should not be repurposed for anything else.

A registry scrub does not cover this step. As the EasyDNC FAQ notes, EasyDNC scrubs against the national registry, and state lists and internal company lists remain the caller's responsibility to apply. For Pennsylvania campaigns, the state list check belongs in the same pre-campaign routine as the federal scrub.

Opt-Outs, Consent, and Robocalls

Section 5(a)(2) prohibits solicitations to a subscriber who has asked not to receive them from that seller or telemarketer. For text messages, the act states that a subscriber may opt out by replying "stop," "quit," "end," "revoke," "opt out," "cancel," or "unsubscribe." Those are the same seven words the FCC lists in its revised federal opt-out rules taking effect November 25, 2026.

The act also adds a definition of prior express written consent. A qualifying agreement identifies the authorized telephone number, clearly discloses that the subscriber agrees to receive solicitations including robocalls or texts, states that consent is not a condition of purchase, and is signed, which may include an electronic signature. Robocalls to Pennsylvania lines generally require that consent under new section 5(a)(11).

Two other additions matter for agencies and lead buyers. Section 5(a)(12) prohibits unfair or deceptive practices used to obtain consent, and section 5(a)(13) prohibits using technology or synthetic or computer-generated messaging to defraud, deceive, or mislead a subscriber. Consent records bought from third parties should be reviewed with both provisions in mind.

A Pennsylvania Workflow for Teams and Agencies

The act keeps a safe harbor for company-specific opt-outs: written procedures, trained personnel, recorded lists of numbers that may not be contacted, and a showing that any later call was an error. Records are what make that defense usable, so the workflow below is built around them.

• Flag Pennsylvania numbers and route them to a schedule that allows solicitations only from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Saturday, excluding legal holidays.
• Remove internal opt-outs from every channel first, including text keywords, voicemail callbacks, and agent notes.
• Apply the current quarterly Pennsylvania do-not-call list, then scrub the remaining numbers against the national registry.
• Log the date and version of each list used, along with the consent record for any number called on a written-consent basis.

EasyDNC handles the national registry step. A file in CSV, XLS, or XLSX format can be scrubbed in seconds, with optional splits for wireless and landline numbers. For dialers that queue numbers throughout the day, a real-time check through the EasyDNC API confirms registry status at the moment a number is loaded.

Registration and Vendor Questions

Pennsylvania also requires many telemarketers and telemarketing businesses to register with the Office of Attorney General at least 30 days before offering goods or services. The act lists exemptions, and it adds one for a business whose calls or messages do not meet the definition of telephone solicitation. The Attorney General's telemarketing registration page describes the process.

Agencies running campaigns for several clients should confirm three points with each one: whether the client or the agency is registered or exempt, which channels will reach Pennsylvania numbers, and who obtains the quarterly state list. Texting and ringless voicemail vendors should confirm that their schedulers can apply state-specific hours.

One federal date is also worth noting on the calendar. The FTC's National Do Not Call Registry telemarketer site lists scheduled maintenance closures on November 20, from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., and on November 21 and 22, from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. Eastern time. Teams that download registry data directly may want to plan around those windows.

A Practical Standard for State-Level Compliance

Act 47 is a reminder that federal rules set a floor, not a ceiling. Pennsylvania now covers texts and ringless voicemail, shortens the calling day, closes Sundays, and keeps its own quarterly list. None of that is unusual on its own, but together it means a national campaign setting is no longer enough for Pennsylvania numbers.

The teams best prepared for this are the ones that treat state rules as part of the list routine rather than an afterthought. A state-aware schedule, a central opt-out file, a quarterly state list check, and a national registry scrub before every campaign form a steady standard that adapts as more states revise their laws.

This is general information, not legal advice. Requirements vary by call type, state, and business, so confirm your obligations with qualified counsel or your compliance team.