Georgia Telemarketing and Cold Calling Laws
In Georgia, sales calls follow the federal 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. window, the National Do Not Call Registry applies, and recording a call needs one party’s consent.
Georgia rules next to federal law
| Rule | Georgia | Federal baseline |
|---|---|---|
| Calling hours | Georgia's only statutory time limit covers ADAD calls (automatic dialing plus a recorded message) selling consumer goods or services: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. There is no separate state window for live-agent calls, so the federal 8 a.m.–9 p.m. limit governs those.O.C.G.A. § 46-5-23(a)(2) | Telephone solicitations only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the called person’s local time.47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(1) |
| State do-not-call list | Georgia's no-call database is the Georgia portion of the National Do Not Call Registry, incorporated by the Public Service Commission; making or causing a telephone solicitation to a listed residential, mobile, or wireless number violates state law. A person who gets more than one violating call in 12 months from or on behalf of the same seller can sue for the greater of actual loss or up to $1,000 per violation plus attorney's fees, including as a class action.O.C.G.A. § 46-5-27(c), (d)(4), (i); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 515-14-1-.04 | No telephone solicitations to residential or wireless numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, subject to the rule’s exemptions such as an established business relationship.47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(c)(2) |
| Autodialer and consent | ADAD calls (auto-dialed with a recorded message) selling consumer goods or services need the called person's prior consent, either given to a live operator who introduces that call or as written standing consent that lapses after two years. The recorded message must identify the caller within the first 25 seconds and at the end, and random or sequential dialing is barred.O.C.G.A. § 46-5-23(a) | Autodialed or prerecorded telemarketing calls to wireless numbers need the called person’s prior express written consent.47 C.F.R. § 64.1200(a)(2) |
| Caller ID | Anyone making a telephone solicitation to a Georgia residential, mobile, or wireless subscriber must clearly state who is calling at the start of the call and may not use any method to block or circumvent the subscriber's caller ID. Since July 1, 2024 the caller-ID ban no longer requires a 'knowing' violation.O.C.G.A. § 46-5-27(g) | Telemarketers must transmit caller ID with a number that can be called back during business hours.47 C.F.R. § 64.1601(e) |
| Telemarketer registration | No general telemarketer registration statute was found. Connecting ADAD (autodialer with recorded message) equipment to Georgia phone lines to call Georgia numbers requires a Public Service Commission permit, renewed every two years.O.C.G.A. § 46-5-23(c) | No general federal equivalent |
| Call recording consent | A person who is a party to a call, or who has one party's prior consent, may record it.O.C.G.A. § 16-11-66(a) | Federal law allows recording when one party to the call consents.18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) |
| Business-to-business calls | Georgia's no-call database does not accept business service subscribers, so calls to business landlines fall outside the state do-not-call rule, and the ADAD rules cover only calls selling goods or services mainly for personal, family, or household use. There is no blanket B2B exemption: the no-call and caller-ID rules reach all mobile and wireless subscribers, with an exclusion for anyone the seller has a prior or current business relationship with.Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 515-14-1-.04(b); O.C.G.A. §§ 46-5-27(b)(3), 46-5-23(a)(2) | No general federal equivalent |
Recent changes
- 2024: SB 73 (signed May 6, 2024; effective July 1, 2024) amended O.C.G.A. § 46-5-27 to drop the 'knowing' requirement, make sellers liable for calls made on their behalf, allow class actions (otherwise damages are the greater of actual loss or up to $1,000 per violation, down from up to $2,000 per knowing violation), and add a defense for numbers given in error by another subscriber.
Calling Georgia from a sales team
- Schedule call blocks in the prospect’s local time, not the rep’s.
- Check numbers against the National Do Not Call Registry before each campaign, and honor opt-outs right away.
- If a call may cross into an all-party state, announce the recording anyway.
Trellus dials from the CRM list your reps already work, with each call logged back to the record. See the power and parallel dialer.
Georgia calling questions
What are the legal calling hours in Georgia?
Georgia's only statutory time limit covers ADAD calls (automatic dialing plus a recorded message) selling consumer goods or services: 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. There is no separate state window for live-agent calls, so the federal 8 a.m.–9 p.m. limit governs those. (O.C.G.A. § 46-5-23(a)(2)). Federal law also limits telephone solicitations to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time.
Does Georgia have its own do-not-call list?
Georgia's no-call database is the Georgia portion of the National Do Not Call Registry, incorporated by the Public Service Commission; making or causing a telephone solicitation to a listed residential, mobile, or wireless number violates state law. A person who gets more than one violating call in 12 months from or on behalf of the same seller can sue for the greater of actual loss or up to $1,000 per violation plus attorney's fees, including as a class action. (O.C.G.A. § 46-5-27(c), (d)(4), (i); Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 515-14-1-.04)
Is Georgia a one-party or all-party consent state for recording calls?
A person who is a party to a call, or who has one party's prior consent, may record it. (O.C.G.A. § 16-11-66(a))
Do Georgia telemarketing rules apply to business-to-business calls?
Georgia's no-call database does not accept business service subscribers, so calls to business landlines fall outside the state do-not-call rule, and the ADAD rules cover only calls selling goods or services mainly for personal, family, or household use. There is no blanket B2B exemption: the no-call and caller-ID rules reach all mobile and wireless subscribers, with an exclusion for anyone the seller has a prior or current business relationship with. (Ga. Comp. R. & Regs. 515-14-1-.04(b); O.C.G.A. §§ 46-5-27(b)(3), 46-5-23(a)(2))
Do telemarketers need to register in Georgia?
No general telemarketer registration statute was found. Connecting ADAD (autodialer with recorded message) equipment to Georgia phone lines to call Georgia numbers requires a Public Service Commission permit, renewed every two years. (O.C.G.A. § 46-5-23(c))
This page summarizes Georgia and federal rules for general information. It is not legal advice, rules change, and exemptions depend on the facts of your calls. Read the cited sources or ask counsel before relying on it.