South Carolina Telemarketing and Cold Calling Laws
In South Carolina, sales calls are allowed 8 a.m.–9 p.m., the National Do Not Call Registry applies, and recording a call needs one party’s consent.
South Carolina rules next to federal law
| Rule | South Carolina | Federal baseline |
|---|---|---|
| Calling hours | Telephone solicitations (calls or texts) may be made only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, unless the solicitor has the consumer's prior written consent. There is no separate Sunday or holiday ban.S.C. Code § 37-21-30 | 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 | No state list: solicitors may not call or text numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, and must honor a request not to be contacted for at least five years. Reasonable procedures plus a registry copy no more than 31 days old are an affirmative defense.S.C. Code § 37-21-70 | 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 | No state consent rule for autodialed calls beyond federal law, but if no live solicitor is available within two seconds of the greeting, the call must play a prerecorded identification message and offer an automated opt-out that adds the number to the in-house do-not-call list and ends the call. An older ADAD statute (§ 16-17-446) limits prerecorded calls to requested, debt-related or existing-relationship calls between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m., but its enforceability is doubtful after Cahaly v. Larosa, 796 F.3d 399 (4th Cir. 2015).S.C. Code §§ 37-21-60, 16-17-446 | 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 | Solicitors must transmit their telephone number (and name when the carrier makes it available), and that number must accept do-not-call requests during business hours; the seller's name and customer-service number may be substituted. It is unlawful, with intent to defraud, harass, cause harm or wrongfully obtain anything of value, to display misleading caller ID, a South Carolina area code without a physical presence in the state, or the recipient's own number.S.C. Code § 37-21-50 | 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 | The South Carolina Telephone Privacy Protection Act contains no telemarketer registration requirement.Source | No general federal equivalent |
| Call recording consent | A party to a call, or a person with one party's prior consent, may lawfully record it.S.C. Code § 17-30-30(C) | Federal law allows recording when one party to the call consents.18 U.S.C. § 2511(2)(d) |
| Business-to-business calls | No express B2B exemption. The Act covers calls or texts to a natural person's residence in South Carolina or to any wireless phone with a South Carolina area code, so business contacts' SC-area-code cell phones are covered, while calls to business landlines generally fall outside it.S.C. Code § 37-21-20(6) | No general federal equivalent |
Recent changes
- 2018: South Carolina Telephone Privacy Protection Act (2018 Act No. 218) took effect May 18, 2018, replacing former § 16-17-445; the Code shows no amendments to Title 37, Chapter 21 since then.
Calling South Carolina 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.
South Carolina calling questions
What are the legal calling hours in South Carolina?
Telephone solicitations (calls or texts) may be made only between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. local time at the consumer's location, unless the solicitor has the consumer's prior written consent. There is no separate Sunday or holiday ban. (S.C. Code § 37-21-30). Federal law also limits telephone solicitations to 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. local time.
Does South Carolina have its own do-not-call list?
No state list: solicitors may not call or text numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry, and must honor a request not to be contacted for at least five years. Reasonable procedures plus a registry copy no more than 31 days old are an affirmative defense. (S.C. Code § 37-21-70)
Is South Carolina a one-party or all-party consent state for recording calls?
A party to a call, or a person with one party's prior consent, may lawfully record it. (S.C. Code § 17-30-30(C))
Do South Carolina telemarketing rules apply to business-to-business calls?
No express B2B exemption. The Act covers calls or texts to a natural person's residence in South Carolina or to any wireless phone with a South Carolina area code, so business contacts' SC-area-code cell phones are covered, while calls to business landlines generally fall outside it. (S.C. Code § 37-21-20(6))
Do telemarketers need to register in South Carolina?
The South Carolina Telephone Privacy Protection Act contains no telemarketer registration requirement.
This page summarizes South Carolina 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.