Rhode Island Telemarketing and Robocall Laws: Statutes, Rules, and How They Differ from the TCPA

Overview

Rhode Island's principal telemarketing statute is the Telephone Sales Solicitation Act, R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 5-61 (§§ 5-61-1 to 5-61-6). It requires covered telephonic sellers to register annually with the consumer protection unit of the Department of Attorney General and to post at least $30,000 in security, and it imposes start-of-call disclosures, consent rules for automatic-dialing-announcing devices, company-specific do-not-call procedures, and restricted calling hours. Section 5-61-3.5 also contains one of the country's broadest statutory restrictions on text message advertising, subject to relationship and opt-out exceptions. A separate criminal provision, R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-35-26, requires automatic telephone dialing systems to release the called party's line within five seconds.

Rhode Island does not maintain its own do-not-call list. Enforcement rests with the Attorney General, which may obtain injunctions and civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation. Purchasers have a private action for triple the amount paid to a seller in material violation, and the Deceptive Trade Practices Act (DTPA), R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 6-13.1, supplies a separate private remedy for consumers who suffer an ascertainable loss.

The headline difference from federal law is the calling window: Rhode Island permits unsolicited sales calls only from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, with no Sunday calls and no weekday state or federal holiday calls, a far narrower window than the federal 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Key statutes and regulations

Detailed provisions

1. Scope: telephone solicitation and telephonic sellers

Section 5-61-1 provides: "As used in this chapter, 'telephone solicitation' means the engagement of a telephone conversation for the purpose of encouraging a person to purchase personal property, investment opportunities, goods or services, or for the purpose of gathering information for sales solicitation."

The registration and most conduct rules apply to a "telephonic seller," defined as "a person who, on his or her own behalf or through salespersons or through the use of an automatic-dialing-announcing device, causes a telephone solicitation, or attempted telephone solicitation, to occur that meets the criteria specified" in § 5-61-2(9). Those criteria are (i) outbound solicitations in which the seller represents or implies, among other things, that a buyer will receive additional items without "further cost," that the prospect "will receive a prize or gift" if the prospect buys or pays, that office supplies can be bought below usual prices because of an unusual event, that "the seller is a person other than the person he or she is," or that the seller offers precious metals or oil, gas or mineral interests; and (ii) inbound calls responding to the seller's advertisements or mailings where the seller offers precious metals, stones, minerals or resource interests, "or that the seller is offering to sell any goods or services not specifically exempted in subsection (10)."

Exemptions from seller status. Under § 5-61-2(10), the term does not include, among others: sellers of qualified or exempt securities; certain licensees "when the solicited transaction is governed by that law"; franchise sellers; newspaper, magazine and negative option or continuity plan sellers; "A person soliciting business from prospective purchasers who have previously purchased from the person making the solicitation or the business enterprise for which the person is calling"; "Any supervised financial institution or parent, subsidiary, or affiliate"; cable television sellers; "A person or affiliate of a person whose business is regulated by the public utilities commission"; small farm product sellers; issuers with securities registered under § 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; persons whose sales are exempt under the Unfair Sales Practices or Deceptive Trade Practices statutes; and sellers of telephone answering services.

2. Registration and security

Registration. "Not less than ten (10) days prior to doing business in this state, a telephone sales solicitation operation or telephonic seller shall register with the department by filing with the consumer protection unit of the department the information required by § 5-61-4 and a filing fee of one hundred dollars ($100)." (§ 5-61-3(a).) "A seller is deemed to do business in this state if the seller solicits prospective purchasers from locations in this state or solicits prospective purchasers who are located in this state." (Id.) The filing must be "verified by a declaration signed by each principal of the telephone sales solicitation operation under penalty of perjury." (Id.)

Registration "shall be valid for one year from its effective date and may be annually renewed" on payment of another $100 (§ 5-61-3(b)). Material changes must be reported within ten days, and salesperson changes by quarterly addenda (§ 5-61-3(c)). The seller must post the Department's confirmation at each business location, and "The seller shall not commence any telephone solicitations until the time that the written confirmation is received." (§ 5-61-3(d).) The consumer protection unit "may delay, reject, or revoke a registration" (§ 5-61-3(e)), including on the grounds listed in § 5-61-3.2 (fraud convictions, prior consumer protection judgments, recent bankruptcies, prior unregistered selling, and false or omitted filing information).

Filing contents. Section 5-61-4 requires, among other things, the seller's names and affiliates, business form, all business addresses, "A listing of all telephone numbers to be used by the seller and the address where each telephone using each of these telephone numbers is located," officers and owners with residence, birth and driver's license information, salespersons, sales scripts and literature, and detailed information for prize, premium, precious metal and resource-interest offers.

Security. "The amount of bond, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit must be a minimum of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000). The department may, at its discretion, establish a bond of greater amount to ensure the general welfare of the public." (§ 5-61-3.1(b).) The security indemnifies purchasers "only for actual damages" and "shall be accessible only after all other legal remedies have been exhausted" (§ 5-61-3.1(c)).

3. Calling hours

Section 5-61-2(2) defines "Hours of operation" as "Monday through Friday, except a state or federal holiday, nine o'clock (9:00 a.m.) to six o'clock (6:00 p.m.); Saturday ten o'clock (10:00 a.m.) to five o'clock (5:00 p.m.)." Section 5-61-3.6(a) then provides: "No salesperson or telephonic seller shall make or cause to be made any unsolicited telephonic sales calls to any residential, mobile, or telephonic-paging-device telephone number except during hours of operation, as defined in § 5-61-2(2)." A violation is a misdemeanor punishable "by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) per violation" (§ 5-61-3.6(b)).

Because Sunday is not within the defined hours of operation, unsolicited sales calls on Sundays are prohibited. The holiday exclusion is written into the Monday through Friday clause; the statute does not say whether a holiday that falls on a Saturday is excluded. The statute does not specify a time zone.

4. Disclosures at the start of the call and after a sale

"Within the first thirty (30) seconds of a telephone call, a telephonic seller or salesperson shall identify herself or himself by stating her or his true name, the company on whose behalf the solicitation is being made, and the consumer goods or services being sold." (§ 5-61-3.3(a).) "If a sale or an agreement to purchase is completed, the telephonic seller must inform the purchaser of her or his cancellation rights as provided in this chapter; state the registration number issued by the department for both the telephonic seller and the salesperson; and give the street address of the telephonic seller." (§ 5-61-3.3(b).) "All oral disclosures required by this section shall be made in a clear and intelligible manner." (§ 5-61-3.3(c).) Chapter 5-61 does not itself contain a separate cancellation-rights section.

5. Prerecorded and synthesized voice messages; autodialers

Consent or live-operator introduction. "A telephonic seller shall not use or connect to a telephone line an automatic-dialing-announcing device unless: (1) The subscriber has knowingly or voluntarily requested, consented to, permitted, or authorized receipt of the message; or (2) The message is immediately preceded by a live operator who obtains the subscriber's consent before the message is delivered." (§ 5-61-3.4(a).) The section does not apply to "(1) Recorded messages from school districts to students, parents, or employees; or (2) Messages advising employees of work schedules." (§ 5-61-3.4(b).)

Live-operator disclosures. When the message is preceded by a live operator, the operator must disclose at the outset "(1) The name of the business, firm, organization, association, partnership, or entity for which the message is being made; (2) The purpose of the message; (3) The identity or kinds of goods or services the message is promoting; and (4) If applicable, the fact that the message intends to solicit payment or commitment of funds." (§ 5-61-3.4(c).)

Disconnect. A telephonic seller "shall not use an automatic-dialing-announcing device to make calls into or within this state, unless the device is designed and operated so as to create a disconnect signal or an on-hook condition that allows the subscriber's line to be released within five (5) seconds after termination of the telephone call by the subscriber." (§ 5-61-3.4(d).) Separately, R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-35-26(a) makes it a misdemeanor, punishable "by a fine of not more than two hundred dollars ($200) for each occurrence," for any person to operate an automatic telephone dialing system that fails to release the line within five seconds after the called party hangs up.

Definitions and Facebook v. Duguid. Chapter 5-61 does not define "automatic-dialing-announcing device." Section 11-35-26(b) defines "automatic telephone dialing system" as "any automatic terminal equipment which is capable of storing numbers to be called or producing numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator, and with the ability to call those numbers, and which is capable of delivering a prerecorded message to the number called with or without manual assistance." That definition tracks the structure of the federal autodialer definition construed in Facebook, Inc. v. Duguid, 592 U.S. 395 (2021), but adds a requirement that the equipment be capable of delivering a prerecorded message. We have found no Rhode Island decision construing either term after Duguid.

6. Do-not-call procedures (no state list)

Rhode Island has no state do-not-call registry and does not require purchase of a state list. Instead, § 5-61-3.5(a) provides: "No salesperson or telephonic seller shall make, or cause to be made, any unsolicited telephonic sales calls to any residential, mobile, or telephonic-paging-device telephone number unless the salesperson or telephonic seller has instituted procedures for maintaining a list of persons who do not wish to receive telephonic sales calls made by or on behalf of that person, in compliance with 47 C.F.R. Part 64 or 16 C.F.R. Part 310." The statute thus incorporates the federal company-specific do-not-call procedures of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) as a matter of state law, enforceable by a state misdemeanor fine "of not more than five hundred dollars ($500) per violation" (§ 5-61-3.5(b)). Calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry are governed by federal law.

7. Text message advertisements

Section 5-61-3.5(a) continues: "Additionally, no person or entity conducting business in this state shall transmit, or cause to be transmitted, a text message advertisement to a cellular telephone or pager equipped with short message capability or any similar capability allowing the transmission of text messages. A text message advertisement is a message, the principal purpose of which is to promote the sale of goods or services to the recipient, consisting of advertising material for the lease, sale, rental, gift, offer, or disposition of realty, goods, services, or extension of credit."

This restriction applies to any "person or entity conducting business in this state," not only to registered telephonic sellers, and "shall apply when a text message advertisement is transmitted to a telephone number assigned for a cellular telephone or pager service to a Rhode Island resident" (§ 5-61-3.5(a)(1)). It does not apply to:

• texts "transmitted at the direction of a person or entity offering cellular telephone or pager service if the subscriber is offered an option not to receive those text messages" (§ 5-61-3.5(a)(2));
• texts "transmitted by a business that has an existing relationship with the subscriber if the subscriber is offered an option not to receive text messages from that business" (§ 5-61-3.5(a)(3)); and
• texts by an affiliate of such a business, "but only if the subscriber has provided consent to the business with which he or she has the relationship to receive text messages from affiliates of that business" (§ 5-61-3.5(a)(4)).

The statute contains no express exception for texts sent with the recipient's prior consent where there is no "existing relationship," and it does not define "existing relationship." In practice, a consumer who has given consent to a business will usually also have a relationship with it, but marketers relying on consent obtained through third-party lead generators should evaluate this text carefully. A violation is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $500 per violation (§ 5-61-3.5(b)).

8. Caller ID and spoofing

Chapter 5-61 contains no caller ID transmission or anti-spoofing provision. A seller that holds itself out as "a person other than the person he or she is" falls within the definition of telephonic seller (§ 5-61-2(9)(i)(D)) and is subject to registration and the criminal fraud provision in § 5-61-5. Caller ID requirements are otherwise governed by federal law (the Truth in Caller ID Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227(e), and the Telemarketing Sales Rule, 16 C.F.R. § 310.4(a)(8)).

9. Private rights of action

Telephone Sales Solicitation Act. "Any purchaser may have a right of action against a telephonic seller who is in material violation of this chapter. The purchaser may recover triple the amount actually paid to the telephonic seller. In addition to any judgment awarded to the purchaser, the court may allow reasonable attorney's fees to be taxed as cost." (§ 5-61-5.1(a).) The remedy is limited to a "purchaser" and measured by the amount paid; there are no per-call statutory damages. "Any person may institute proceedings for injunctive relief, temporary or permanent," against threatened loss or damage, and "If the court issues a permanent injunction, the plaintiff shall be awarded reasonable attorney's fees, filing fees, and reasonable costs of the suit." (§ 5-61-5.1(e).)

DTPA. The DTPA private action is available to "Any person who purchases or leases goods or services primarily for personal, family, or household purposes and thereby suffers any ascertainable loss of money or property, real or personal, as a result of the use or employment by another person of a method, act, or practice declared unlawful by § 6-13.1-2." Such a person may recover "actual damages or five hundred dollars ($500), whichever is greater," and "The court may award damages equal to three (3) times the amount of actual damages." (§ 6-13.1-5.2(a).) Class actions are expressly authorized where the practice "has caused similar injury to numerous other persons similarly situated" (§ 6-13.1-5.2(b)), and the court "may award, in addition to the relief provided in this section, reasonable attorney's fees and costs" (§ 6-13.1-5.2(d)). Chapter 5-61 does not declare its violations to be DTPA violations, and federal courts in Rhode Island have dismissed DTPA claims by call recipients who did not purchase, and were not asked to purchase, anything from the caller (see Laccinole cases below).

Text and hours violations. Sections 5-61-3.5 and 5-61-3.6 specify only criminal fines. Whether a recipient may sue under § 5-61-5.1 for those violations depends on being a "purchaser" from a "telephonic seller."

Limitations. Chapter 5-61 does not state a limitations period.

10. Attorney General enforcement and penalties

The Attorney General may sue to restrain violations and obtain declaratory relief (§ 5-61-5.1(c), (d)), and "any person, firm, corporation, or other entity who violates this chapter may be liable for a civil penalty in a suit by the department of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each violation," which may be waived on full restitution (§ 5-61-5.1(g)). The court may appoint a master or receiver or sequester assets to reimburse purchasers (§ 5-61-5.1(f)). Criminally, any person "who willfully violates any provision of this chapter" or who uses a scheme to deceive in connection with a telephonic sale may be fined "not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for each unlawful transaction," imprisoned "for not more than one year," or both (§ 5-61-5). Under the DTPA, a violator "shall forfeit and pay to the state a civil penalty of not more than ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per violation" (§ 6-13.1-8).

How Rhode Island law differs from federal law

Where Rhode Island is stricter. The calling window is roughly half the federal window, with no Sunday calls. Covered sellers must register and post security. The text advertisement provision restricts promotional texts without regard to whether an autodialer is used, which is broader than the federal autodialer-based restriction after Duguid.

Where Rhode Island is looser or narrower. There is no state do-not-call list and no per-call private damages. The private remedy belongs to purchasers and is measured by the amount paid. The prerecorded-message rule allows oral consent obtained by a live operator, which federal law does not accept for telemarketing robocalls. Rhode Island has no caller ID statute.

Where Rhode Island follows federal law. Company-specific do-not-call compliance is defined by reference to the FCC and FTC rules.

Notable enforcement and case law

We located no reported Rhode Island state court decision construing chapter 5-61. Federal decisions in the District of Rhode Island addressing state-law claims that accompany TCPA claims include:

• Laccinole v. Appriss, Inc., No. 1:19-cv-00605-WES-LDA (D.R.I. Apr. 13, 2020). The court dismissed TCPA claims because "the alleged calls from Appriss were not made for solicitation or telemarketing purposes," and dismissed the DTPA claim because the plaintiff "does not allege that he purchased goods or services from Appriss, nor that he was asked to purchase goods or services by Appriss," so he lacked the necessary consumer relationship. Laccinole v. Appriss (D.R.I. 2020) opinion
• Laccinole v. Students for Life Action Inc., No. 1:21-cv-00252-WES-PAS (D.R.I. Aug. 4, 2022). The court held that the plaintiff's "Rhode Island DTPA claims are easily dismissed" because he neither alleged that he "purchased goods or services," nor that he "was asked to purchase goods or services" by the defendant, and dismissed claims under the FCC's prerecorded message identification rules because 47 U.S.C. § 227(d) "does not provide a private cause of action." Laccinole v. Students for Life Action (D.R.I. 2022) opinion

Recent amendments

We found no amendments to chapter 5-61 between 2023 and 2026. The section histories show the last substantive changes as P.L. 2003, ch. 98 and ch. 216 (text message advertisement provision in § 5-61-3.5), P.L. 2005, ch. 36 and ch. 72 (exemptions in § 5-61-2), P.L. 2009, ch. 310 (§ 5-61-4), and P.L. 2021, ch. 400 and ch. 401, effective July 13, 2021 (§ 5-61-3.2). The DTPA private action and civil penalty sections were amended by P.L. 2021, ch. 206 and ch. 329 (effective July 7 and July 9, 2021).

Practical compliance checklist

1. Determine whether the business is a "telephonic seller" under § 5-61-2(9) or fits an exemption in § 5-61-2(10); prior-purchaser, financial institution, utility-regulated and public issuer exemptions are the most commonly available.
2. If covered, register with the Attorney General's consumer protection unit at least 10 days before calling, post the $30,000 security, renew annually, and do not call until the written confirmation arrives.
3. Limit unsolicited sales calls to Rhode Island numbers to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on non-holiday weekdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays, with no Sunday calls.
4. Within 30 seconds, state the caller's true name, the company, and the goods or services being sold; after any sale, give cancellation rights, registration numbers and the seller's street address.
5. Do not send promotional texts to Rhode Island residents unless the business has an existing relationship with the recipient and offers an opt-out (or a carrier or affiliate-consent exception applies).
6. For prerecorded or synthesized messages, obtain the subscriber's consent (federal law requires prior express written consent for telemarketing robocalls) and ensure line release within five seconds.
7. Maintain company-specific do-not-call procedures that meet the FCC and TSR standards, and scrub against the National Do Not Call Registry under federal law.
8. Comply with federal caller ID transmission rules; Rhode Island has no separate caller ID statute.

References

• R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 5-61 index: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/INDEX.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-1: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-1.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-2: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-2.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-3: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-3.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-3.1: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-3.1.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-3.2: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-3.2.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-3.3: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-3.3.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-3.4: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-3.4.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-3.5: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-3.5.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-3.6: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-3.6.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-4: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-4.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-5: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-5.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-61-5.1: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-61/5-61-5.1.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 11-35-26: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE11/11-35/11-35-26.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.1-5.2: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE6/6-13.1/6-13.1-5.2.htm
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 6-13.1-8: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE6/6-13.1/6-13.1-8.htm
• P.L. 2003, ch. 216: https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/PublicLaws/law03/law03216.htm
• Laccinole v. Appriss, Inc. (D.R.I. 2020): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-rid-1_19-cv-00605/pdf/USCOURTS-rid-1_19-cv-00605-0.pdf
• Laccinole v. Students for Life Action Inc. (D.R.I. 2022): https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-rid-1_21-cv-00252/pdf/USCOURTS-rid-1_21-cv-00252-0.pdf
• 47 U.S.C. § 227: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title47/html/USCODE-2023-title47-chap5-subchapII-partI-sec227.htm
• 47 C.F.R. § 64.1200: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-47/chapter-I/subchapter-B/part-64/subpart-L/section-64.1200
• 16 C.F.R. Part 310: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-16/chapter-I/subchapter-C/part-310

This page summarizes state law for general informational purposes and is not legal advice. Statutes change; confirm current text with the official source before relying on it.