Beginning October 18, 2026, companies that call, text, or leave voicemail messages for Pennsylvania consumers will face a broader and stricter state telemarketing law. A recently passed bill amends Pennsylvania’s Telemarketer Registration Act—often described as Pennsylvania’s “mini-TCPA”—to cover modern outreach methods, like text messages and ringless voicemails, and imposes additional guardrails on callers.
Where Pennsylvania Law Stands Today
Pennsylvania’s mini-TCPA focuses largely on traditional telephone sales calls. In general, it requires telemarketers that market goods, services, or charitable contributions to Pennsylvania consumers to register with the Pennsylvania Attorney General before doing business in the state. Registrants must renew periodically, pay the required fee, and maintain the required bond.
The law also restricts unwanted solicitation calls, regulates caller identification practices, and treats violations as violations of Pennsylvania’s consumer protection law. But the existing framework was built around older calling practices and does not expressly address many tools now common in the calling industry, such as text campaigns, ringless voicemail, and synthetic or AI-generated voice messages.
What The Amendments Change
The following are some of the important changes to Pennsylvania’s mini-TCPA that will take effect on October 18, 2026:
1. Texts, voicemails, and ringless voicemails are now squarely in scope.
The applicable definition of “telephone solicitation” has been redefined to expressly include telephone calls, voicemails, ringless voicemails, and text messages. Thus, callers that utilize text messages and were not previously registered in Pennsylvania may now need to be if they are not subject to an exemption.
2. New definition of robocall.
The term “robocall” is now defined as a “telephone solicitation that uses an automated dialing system to deliver prerecorded or artificial voice calls or messages.”
3. Prior express written consent is now required for robocalls, and is the new standard for the consent exception for telephone solicitations.
Unless made for an emergency purpose, robocalls can only be made with the called party’s prior express written consent. A sales call or text message does not constitute a telephone solicitation when made with the called party’s prior express written consent (this exception previously just required an express request from the called party).
4. Narrowed calling hours.
Telephone solicitations may not be made on Sundays and are limited to 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on other days, subject to applicable exceptions. The previous rule limited calling hours to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and did not prohibit calling on Sundays.
5. Opt-out requests for text messages.
A person may make an opt-out request via text message by texting “stop,” “quit,” “end,” “revoke,” “opt out,” “cancel” or “unsubscribe” in reply to an incoming text.
6. Businesses that hire telemarketers can be liable.
Responsibility is not limited to the vendor placing the call. Brands and lead buyers that direct, authorize, or benefit from campaigns should expect greater scrutiny of vendor oversight.
7. Penalties and lawsuits become a bigger risk.
Violations of Pennsylvania’s mini-TCPA may carry civil penalties of up to $1,000 per violation, or up to $3,000 when the affected consumer is age 60 or older, and violations are tied to Pennsylvania’s consumer protection law, creating private litigation exposure.
With only two months before the amendments take effect, companies have a short implementation window to make necessary updates to policies, dialing controls, consent language, campaign documentation, and vendor contracts.
But complying with some of the new rules can be relatively simple. For example, Readymode has a built-in state calling restrictions feature that can assist companies with honoring states’ day- and time-calling restrictions, such as Pennsylvania’s narrowed calling hours and Sunday-calling prohibition.
Bottom Line
These amendments expand the applicability of Pennsylvania’s mini-TCPA to the channels and technologies that many companies use every day. Companies that call, text, or leave voicemail messages for Pennsylvania consumers should use the lead time before October 18, 2026, to confirm that their consent records, suppression systems, scripts, AI practices, and vendor controls are ready.
This article is only offered for informational purposes; it is not legal advice. Please consult a qualified attorney for your specific compliance needs.
Joe Bowser
Joe Bowser is a partner at Roth Jackson. He has been practicing communications and marketing law for two decades. He advises and defends calling and SMS platform providers (like Readymode), carriers/VoIP providers, and heavy users of those services in their wide range of compliance needs. In his spare time, you can find him taking his boys to their sports, getting in a workout of his own, or catching an Arsenal match.
