Telemarketing Sales Rule — The FTC’s Rulebook for Outbound Sellers

The Telemarketing Sales Rule: The FTC’s Half of Outbound Calling Law

Most cold callers know the TCPA. Fewer know the FTC’s Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. Part 310 — the rulebook for what you must say on a call, what you may never claim, how you take payment, how many calls your dialer may abandon, and what records you keep. Since the 2024 amendments those records run five years, and civil penalties reach $53,088 per violation. The operator’s version, as of July 2026:

This page is education, not legal advice. A dialer is a tool — compliance depends on how you use it. Enzo does not scrub against national or state DNC registries — third-party scrub first, then import. Enzo’s internal DNC is campaign-level only. Consult a telemarketing attorney for your specific program.

TSR vs. TCPA: Two Agencies, Two Rulebooks

Federal telemarketing law is split in two: the FCC administers the TCPA under 47 U.S.C. § 227, and the FTC enforces the TSR under 16 C.F.R. Part 310.

Most outbound programs sit inside both rulebooks at once — the FCC’s side is in TCPA for cold callers; this page covers the FTC’s.

Who the TSR Covers — and Who Escapes It

Under 16 C.F.R. § 310.2, “telemarketing” is a plan, program, or campaign to induce the purchase of goods or services — or a charitable contribution — using more than one interstate call. Purely intrastate campaigns fall outside the TSR; state law and the FCC’s rules still apply.

Entities outside FTC Act jurisdiction escape entirely: banks, federal credit unions, federal savings and loans; common carriers in common-carrier activity; insurance as regulated by state law; and bona fide non-profits. But the exemption follows the entity — a third-party telemarketer calling on behalf of a bank or charity is covered.

Section 310.6(b) exempts more call types, with carve-backs: unsolicited inbound calls, responses to general-media or direct-mail advertising, face-to-face transactions, pay-per-call services, and franchise or business-opportunity sales.

B2B calls remain exempt under § 310.6(b)(7) — except that the 2024 amendments applied the misrepresentation bans, §§ 310.3(a)(2) and (a)(4), to B2B telemarketing. B2B stays exempt from the do-not-call and disclosure provisions; the nondurable office-and-cleaning-supplies carve-out remains.

The Disclosure Rules: What You Must Say, and When

Up front, § 310.4(d) requires prompt, truthful, clear disclosure of the seller’s identity, the sales purpose of the call, the nature of the goods or services, and — for prize promotions — that no purchase is necessary to win and buying does not improve the odds. Charitable solicitations carry a parallel duty, § 310.4(e). Before the customer consents to pay, § 310.3(a)(1) adds: total cost and quantity, material restrictions, the no-refund policy if refunds are not offered, prize odds, and any negative-option terms. For a sales floor this is script architecture: seller name and sales purpose belong in the opener.

The Misrepresentation Bans

Section 310.3(a)(2) bans misrepresenting material facts across nine categories: cost and quantity, performance and efficacy, refund policies, prize promotions, investment risk and profitability, affiliation or endorsement, consumer-protection services, negative options, and debt relief. Section 310.3(a)(4) sweeps wider: any false or misleading statement to induce payment or a charitable contribution. These two provisions now reach B2B calls.

Payment Rules: Express Verifiable Authorization

Payment by any method other than a credit or debit card requires “express verifiable authorization” under § 310.3(a)(3), obtainable in exactly three ways: express written authorization with the customer’s signature; an audio-recorded oral authorization capturing the transaction details (amounts, dates, account ID, an inquiry number, authorization date); or written confirmation by first-class mail before billing is submitted. If the payment is not a card, one of those three artifacts must exist for every sale.

Call Abandonment: The 2-Second Rule and the 3% Safe Harbor

This is the provision your dialer settings touch directly. Under § 310.4(b)(1)(iv), a call is abandoned if the person answering is not connected to a live representative within two seconds of their completed greeting. The § 310.4(b)(4) safe harbor shields you if four conditions hold:

1. The 3% cap. Abandonment no higher than 3% of calls answered by a person, per campaign if it runs under 30 days, or per successive 30-day period.
2. Ring time. At least 15 seconds or four rings before disconnecting an unanswered call.
3. The recorded message. When no rep is available within two seconds, a recorded message promptly states the seller’s name and telephone number.
4. Records. Documentation under § 310.5 establishing all of it.

One point gets garbled: the denominator is calls answered by a person and the window is per campaign or 30-day period — not “3% per day.” The FCC’s parallel rule, 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(7), measures the same way; cite each agency’s rule.

Calling Hours and the Do-Not-Call Side

Section 310.4(c) prohibits outbound telemarketing calls to a residence outside 8 a.m.–9 p.m. local time at the called person’s location, absent prior consent — the same window the FCC enforces; stricter state windows live in the calling hours by state table. The TSR is also where the Do-Not-Call registry’s fees live — for the fee year that began October 1, 2025: five area codes free, $82 per additional area code, capped at $22,626 (FTC fees rule, August 27, 2025). SANs, subscriptions, and the 31-day scrub are in the DNC registry guide.

The 2024 Amendments: Five-Year Recordkeeping

The 2024 amendments were published April 16, 2024 (89 FR 26760) and took effect May 16, 2024; the FTC deferred compliance with the new call-detail records provision, § 310.5(a)(2), to October 15, 2024. Retention jumped from two years to five years, generally from the date the record is produced, and required records expanded: call detail (calling and called numbers, date, time, duration, disposition, robocall status), the caller ID transmitted, the identity of the telemarketer placing each call, the DNC registry versions purchased and used, and consent and authorization records.

What a Violation Costs

The current maximum civil penalty is $53,088 per violation — set by the FTC’s inflation adjustment effective January 17, 2025, and unchanged for 2026 after OMB canceled all 2026 inflation adjustments (Memorandum M-26-11, April 17, 2026) because the government shutdown prevented the October 2025 CPI-U data the statute requires. Expect a fresh adjustment in early 2027 — verify at FTC.gov before relying on the figure.

Where Enzo Fits — and Where It Doesn’t

The dialer itself is compliant tooling; whether your program complies with the TSR depends on how you use it — scripts, pacing, payment process, records. Enzo runs power, predictive, and preview dialing in single-line and multi-line modes; the abandonment standard is the constraint predictive pacing must be configured against, and the 3% math is yours to run and prove. Enzo’s internal DNC is campaign-level only — marks do not carry across campaigns — so keep your master suppression file outside the dialer and scrub through a third party before import. The checklist view is on the call center compliance hub.

The TSR compresses to a list: who you are and why you’re calling, up front; cost and terms before payment; no material misstatements; verifiable authorization for non-card payments; abandonment inside the 3% safe harbor; 8 a.m.–9 p.m. at the prospect’s location; five years of records. To see pacing, recording, and campaign-level DNC in a live workflow, book a free discovery call.

Not legal advice. This guide is general information for outbound calling teams, not legal advice. Rules change and apply differently by state, industry, and call type — confirm your program with qualified telemarketing compliance counsel.

Sources: 16 C.F.R. Part 310; 89 FR 26760 (Apr. 16, 2024); the FTC’s Jan. 17, 2025 civil-penalty adjustment; OMB Memorandum M-26-11 (Apr. 17, 2026); the FTC’s TSR Fees rule (Aug. 27, 2025); FTC business guidance, “Complying with the Telemarketing Sales Rule” — as of July 2026. Educational only.