Sunday. Louisiana is one of the few states where a sales call placed on a Sunday breaks the rules, even to a customer who agreed to hear from the company. State rules also bar calls after 8 p.m., halt solicitation during declared emergencies, and require telemarketers to register before using the state’s Do Not Call list. The penalties are administrative and capped per call, and the state’s main statute doesn’t give consumers a damages claim, which leaves most private exposure in federal court.
Which calls does Louisiana’s telemarketing law cover?
A sales call or message to a residential subscriber, including offers of credit. The Telephone Solicitation Relief Act defines a telephonic solicitation in R.S. 45:844.12 as “any voice or data communication made by a telephonic solicitor to a residential telephonic subscriber” to encourage a sale, a rental, an investment, or “an extension of credit.” Calls to gather information for later sales pitches are included too.
The words “data communication” matter for texting programs. Louisiana’s statute doesn’t use the word “text,” but a marketing text is a data communication, and the Commission’s current rules repeat that phrasing. A company running SMS campaigns into Louisiana should assume the state’s Do Not Call and calling-hours rules apply to them.
The definition has a long list of exclusions. The same section leaves out calls made at the consumer’s express request, calls about an existing debt or contract, most calls by 501(c)(3) and (6) nonprofits that don’t use paid solicitors, market research, political calls, and some follow-up calls by health care providers and veterinarians to their own patients and clients.
Can a company call its existing customers on the Louisiana list?
Yes, but the window is short. The statute excludes calls to someone with “an existing business relationship, or a prior business relationship that was terminated or lapsed within six months of such call,” R.S. 45:844.12 provides. Under the FCC’s rule, a purchase supports Do Not Call calls for 18 months. A former customer who’s been gone seven months is fair game federally and off limits in Louisiana.
That gap is the most common compliance mistake for national callers. A suppression rule built around the federal 18-month window will clear Louisiana numbers that the state treats as protected. The fix is a state-specific lapse date in the customer database, applied before the federal scrub.
Car dealers get special treatment, and it cuts both ways. A dealer that sets up a showroom appointment by phone falls under a separate exclusion only if the customer has bought from the dealership before, and the statute removes dealers from the general relationship exclusion. Dealers calling past customers about a trade-in should check which of the two exclusions they’re relying on.
When can telemarketers call Louisiana residents?
Between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The Commission’s Do Not Call General Order, adopted in February 2021, states: “No calls will be placed on Sunday or Legal Holidays. No calls will be placed between the hours of 8:00 P.M. and 8:00 A.M. Monday through Saturday.” The time is measured at the called party’s location.
The surprising part is who the rule covers. The order says these terms “shall apply to all forms of telephonic solicitation,” including the categories excluded from the statute’s definition, such as calls to existing customers and calls made at the consumer’s request. Only market research and political calls are carved out. A company that’s exempt from the Do Not Call list in Louisiana is still bound by the calling-hours rule.
Emergencies add a third limit. During a state of emergency declared by the governor, while the Commission is reporting to the state’s emergency operations center, the order provides that “no telephonic solicitor shall engage in any form of telephonic solicitation.” Hurricane emergencies are common in Louisiana. Marketing teams calling or texting into the state should have a way to pause Louisiana campaigns on short notice, because a storm season can shut the state off for days.
Do telemarketers have to register in Louisiana?
Usually, and with more than one agency. To buy the state Do Not Call list, a solicitor must register with the Public Service Commission under R.S. 45:844.14, and the annual fees under R.S. 45:844.16 start at $400 for registration and another $400 for the list. Companies using automated dialing and recorded message equipment need a separate permit and a $10,000 bond under R.S. 45:813.
A third registration applies to a narrower group. The telephonic sellers chapter, enforced by the attorney general, covers sellers whose calls make certain pitches, such as free items with a purchase, prizes, or prices below the regular price, as defined in R.S. 45:822. Those sellers register with the attorney general’s consumer protection section and keep a $50,000 bond under R.S. 45:829. The chapter exempts many businesses, including supervised financial institutions and companies calling their own past customers under the same business name.
Registration is worth more than the fee suggests. The Do Not Call chapter’s safe harbor in R.S. 45:844.17 protects only a solicitor “registered in compliance with R.S. 45:844.16,” and only if the violation was an unintended error and the company has written procedures, training, a call log, an internal do-not-call list, and uses both the state and national registries. An unregistered company gives up that defense before any call is made.
What are the penalties under Louisiana’s telemarketing laws?
Mostly administrative. Under R.S. 45:844.15, the Commission may impose a penalty “not to exceed one thousand five hundred dollars for each violation,” or up to $3,000 when the subscriber is over 65, after notice and a hearing. The chapter’s penalty section gives enforcement to the Commission. It doesn’t create a private damages claim.
The older automated-dialing chapter is different. R.S. 45:817 lets a district attorney sue, lets individuals seek an injunction “on behalf of others similarly situated,” and requires a court to assess a civil penalty of $1,000 per call. That penalty is “paid into the general fund of this state,” not to the plaintiff, and the prevailing party recovers its fees, which can include a defendant that wins.
| Louisiana rule | Source | Who enforces it | Where the defense starts |
|---|---|---|---|
| State Do Not Call list | R.S. 45:844.14, with the national registry folded in | Public Service Commission, up to $1,500 per violation | Registration, scrub records, and lapse dates |
| Calling hours and Sundays | PSC General Order R-35852 | Public Service Commission | Dialer settings and call timestamps |
| Automated dialing and recorded messages | R.S. 45:811 to 817 | District attorney, or an injunction by an individual | Consent at the start of each call |
| Federal claims on the same calls | 47 U.S.C. § 227 | Private plaintiffs, $500 per violation | Federal consent and exemption records |
What does Louisiana require for automated and recorded calls?
Consent at the start of each call. Under R.S. 45:812, consent comes from a live operator who introduces the call and says a recorded message will play, or from a feature that lets the person agree, and consent “shall apply only to a particular call.” The prohibitions in R.S. 45:811 also bar random or sequential dialing and require a recorded message to give the caller’s name and number within the first 25 seconds.
The chapter has its own exceptions. R.S. 45:816 excludes calls to collect a lawful debt, calls to existing customers about goods or services they already ordered, calls with a pre-existing business relationship, and the sale of financial services. Private claims on prerecorded calls into Louisiana are usually brought under the federal TCPA, where damages run $500 per violation and up to $1,500 if the violation was willful or knowing, under 47 U.S.C. § 227.
The earlier post on Florida’s telephone solicitation act covers a neighboring state where private plaintiffs do have a damages claim, and the post on internal do-not-call policies covers the written procedures Louisiana’s safe harbor asks for. More on the firm’s work is on its page for TCPA and state telemarketing defense.
Records to gather for a Louisiana complaint
- Hold the call and text logs with timestamps, dialer settings, recorded message files, and consent records for each Louisiana number.
- Export the internal do-not-call entries and stop requests for those numbers, with the dates they came in.
- Pull the Louisiana registration and permit records, the state list and national registry scrub records, and their version dates.
- Gather the written compliance procedures and training records, plus the vendor contracts and scripts used on Louisiana calls.
- Talk to a lawyer before answering a Commission complaint, a demand letter, or the consumer.
Questions about Louisiana telemarketing law
Is a hurricane emergency really a ban on all sales calls?
For as long as the Commission is reporting to the state’s emergency operations center, yes. Once the Commission is released from those duties and the emergency is downgraded, the general order allows calls that fall within the statute’s exclusions to resume. The Commission posts the current status on its website, and the prudent course is to check it before restarting a Louisiana campaign after any storm.
Does Louisiana’s Do Not Call list include the national registry?
Yes. The statute directs the Commission to keep a single list that includes the Louisiana numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry. A company that scrubs against the state list covers both, but access to the state list requires registration with the Commission. A company that scrubs only against the national registry may miss numbers registered with the state directly.
Are calls to business phone numbers covered?
The Do Not Call chapter protects residential telephonic subscribers, a term the statute defines as a natural person who subscribes to residential service and anyone living with them. Calls to business lines generally fall outside it. A cell phone used for both work and home is a harder question, and companies shouldn’t assume that a number listed on a business form is outside the state rules.
What happens if a company calls during a legal holiday?
The general order bars sales calls on Sundays and legal holidays, and the Commission publishes a list of the state holidays it applies. A call on one of those days can draw a complaint and an administrative penalty after a hearing. Dialers set to a national holiday calendar may miss Louisiana-specific holidays, so the state list should be loaded separately.
If your company faces a Louisiana calling complaint
If your company is accused of calling Louisiana residents on a Sunday or calling numbers on the state list, the timestamps and the registration file usually decide the case. Rosenberger + Kawabata represents businesses defending TCPA lawsuits and class actions through its business litigation practice, including claims involving state calling-hour rules. Contact Rosenberger + Kawabata online for a confidential consultation, or call (310) 894-6921.
Sources
The Louisiana statutes are the Telephone Solicitation Relief Act, La. R.S. 45:844.12, 45:844.14, 45:844.15, 45:844.16, and 45:844.17; the Consumer Telemarketing Protection Act, La. R.S. 45:811 through 45:817; and the telephonic sellers chapter, La. R.S. 45:822 and 45:829. The Commission’s rules are in its Do Not Call General Order, Docket No. R-35852. The federal statute is 47 U.S.C. § 227, and the FCC’s rules are at 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200.
This post is general information about the Telephone Consumer Protection Act and related laws as of June 20, 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Courts and the FCC change the rules in this area often, and the outcome of any claim depends on its facts. Past results do not guarantee future outcomes.