Utilities, Utility Districts

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not specify penalties other than those provided by the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act, which may include restraining orders, injunctions, private rights of action, and damages.

Rules for Telephone Solicitations

This bill sets rules for companies that use automated systems to call people at home with recorded messages and requires them to keep records of these calls.

What This Bill Does

• Requires companies making more than 500 automated phone calls per month to residential homes to maintain a record of the number of such telephone solicitations made each month.
• Companies that make at least 500 automated phone calls per month must provide copies of their call records to the Tennessee Public Utilities Commission every six months and upon request by the attorney general.
• Prohibits companies from making more than 10,000 automated phone calls per month using recorded messages to residential homes.

Who It Names or Affects

• Companies that make automated telephone solicitations to residential subscribers in Tennessee.

Terms To Know

Automated Telephone Dialing System

A machine or system used to automatically dial phone numbers and deliver recorded messages without human intervention.

Tennessee Public Utilities Commission

The state agency responsible for regulating public utilities in Tennessee, including telecommunications services.

Limits and Unknowns

• This bill does not specify penalties for companies that do not comply with the record-keeping requirements other than those provided by the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977.
• It is unclear how this bill will be enforced or what specific actions the commission can take against violators.

Official Summary Text

ON APRIL 6, 2026, THE HOUSE ADOPTED AMENDMENT #1 AND PASSED HOUSE BILL 2408, AS AMENDED.

AMENDMENT #1 rewrites the bill to, instead, require a person or entity that makes telephone solicitations using an automated telephone dialing system to delivery artificial or prerecorded voice messages to residential subscribers in this state to maintai
n a record of the number of such telephone solicitations made each month. A person or entity that makes at least 500 telephone solicitations per month must provide copies of the required records to the Tennessee public utilities commission ("commission")
a
t least every six months. Further, a person or entity that makes at least 500 telephone solicitations to provide copies of the required records upon request by the commission or the attorney general.

This amendment prohibits a person or entity from making more than 10,000 telephone solicitations per month using an automated telephone dialing system to deliver artificial or prerecorded voice messages to residential subscribers in this state. A violat
ion of this provision also
constitutes a violation of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act of 1977 and is subject to the penalties and remedies as provided in that Act, which includes, but is not limited to, restraining orders, injunctions, private rights
of action, and damages.
Further, a court that finds a person or entity violated this provision must impose a civil penalty of at least $1,000 per violation.

APPLICABILITY

This amendment applies to conduct occurring on or after July 1, 2026.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 2659
By White

HOUSE BILL 2408
By Baum
HB2408
012769
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 47,
Chapter 18; Title 65 and Title 67, relative to
communications over a telephone.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 65, Chapter 4, Part 4, is amended by
adding the following as a new section:
The commission shall include with the annual report required under § 65-1-111, a
separate report regarding compliance with this part to the chair of the committee of the
house of representatives having jurisdiction over commerce and the chair of the
commerce and labor committee of the senate.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.