Texas telemarketing law: registration, no-call list, and B2B calls

Texas telemarketing law can require a seller to register before soliciting purchasers in Texas, and since 1 Sep 2025 that includes text messages. It adds calling hours, the Texas no-call list, and caller ID rules. Calls to businesses are exempt from some of these rules, but the registration chapter has no general exemption for them.

A team in Chicago starts calling Dallas and Houston on Monday. Nobody asks about Texas until a prospect does.

Four chapters, four different questions

The rules sit in the Texas Business and Commerce Code, as of October 2026:

Chapter	What it covers	Who it is aimed at
301	Calling hours and identifying yourself	Unsolicited calls to residential numbers about consumer goods or services
302	Seller registration with the Secretary of State	Sellers soliciting from Texas or to a purchaser in Texas
304	The Texas no-call list and caller ID	Telemarketing calls about consumer goods or services
305	A private lawsuit for TCPA violations	Anyone whose communication breaks the federal TCPA

Read them separately. An exemption in one chapter does nothing for the others.

Registration under chapter 302

Section 302.101 says a seller may not make a telephone solicitation from a location in Texas or to a purchaser located in Texas unless it holds a registration certificate for the business location the solicitation comes from. Each calling location needs its own certificate.

What registration involves:

• a registration statement filed with the Secretary of State, verified by each principal (302.102);
• a filing fee of US$200 (302.106) and security of US$10,000, as a bond, letter of credit, or certificate of deposit (302.107);
• renewal every year (302.104);
• a quarterly addendum listing the salespeople who called for you (302.105);
• copies of the scripts, outlines, and sales material your reps use (302.153).

“Purchaser” in 302.001 means a person who is solicited to buy or rent an item, and “item” means property or a service. The chapter’s exemptions are specific, and section 302.051 puts the burden of proving one on the seller who claims it. The ones sales teams ask about most:

Exemption	Section	What it requires
Publicly traded company	302.053(2)	Registered with the SEC or State Securities Board, or a subsidiary or agent of one
Business buying to resell or manufacture	302.056	The purchaser intends to resell the item or use it in manufacturing, recycling, reuse, or remanufacturing
Current or former customers	302.058(2)	You are calling them, and you have used the same business name for at least 2 years
No sale on the call	302.059(1)	No sale or provisional acceptance on the call, no major sales presentation, and a later face-to-face presentation
Isolated call	302.061	One transaction, not part of a pattern

Myth checked: “Texas law doesn’t cover B2B calls.” Chapter 304 says so for the no-call list. Chapter 302 has no matching rule. Its only commercial exemption is for a business buying to resell or manufacture, under 302.056. Whether the meeting-setter exemption in 302.059 fits a team that books video demos is a question for your counsel. The statute says “face-to-face.”

What SB 140 changed

SB 140 took effect on 1 Sep 2025 and applies to conduct on or after that date. Three changes matter:

1. Texts count. A telephone solicitation is now “a call or other transmission,” including a text or graphic message or an image. A marketing text to a Texas purchaser is in scope of chapter 302.
2. More routes to sue. Violations of chapter 304 and chapter 305 are now false, misleading, or deceptive acts under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. Chapter 302 already had that link in section 302.303.
3. Repeat claimants. Recovering under a private action more than once does not limit a claimant’s recovery later.

Calling hours and the first sentence

Section 301.051 applies to unsolicited calls to residential numbers about consumer goods or services. It allows calls:

• after 9 a.m. and before 9 p.m. on weekdays and Saturdays;
• after 12 noon and before 9 p.m. on Sundays.

The same section says the caller must give their name, the business they are calling for, and the purpose of the call immediately after making contact. Calls made at the consumer’s express request, about an unfinished debt or contract, or to someone with a prior or existing business relationship are outside the section. A knowing violation carries a civil penalty of up to US$10,000 each (301.103).

Even where chapter 301 doesn’t reach your calls, the opening it describes is a good one. Our cold call opener guide uses the same three parts.

The Texas no-call list and caller ID

Chapter 304 covers telemarketing calls about consumer goods or services. The key rules:

• The list. The Texas no-call list combines Texans who asked to be on it with the Texas part of the national do-not-call registry (304.051).
• 60 days. You may not make a telemarketing call to a listed number more than 60 days after it appears on the current list (304.052). Entries last 3 years and can be renewed (304.053).
• Business calls. The chapter does not apply to calls between a telemarketer and a business, other than faxes, unless the business has said it doesn’t want them (304.004(3)). An established business relationship is also outside the chapter.
• Caller ID. A telemarketer may not block its number, interfere with caller ID, or send misleading caller ID information (304.151). Showing the name and number of the company you call for is allowed.
• Penalties. The attorney general can seek up to US$1,000 per violation, or US$3,000 if willful or knowing (304.252). A consumer can sue for up to US$500 per willful or knowing no-call violation after the complaint steps in 304.257.

Worked example (illustrative dates). A number first appears on the current Texas list published on 1 Jul. Under 304.052, a telemarketing call to it after 30 Aug breaks the rule. A team that loads a new list once a quarter, and loads it late, can miss that window by weeks.

Chapter 305 and the TCPA

Section 305.053 lets a person who receives a communication that violates the federal TCPA sue in Texas for the greater of US$500 per violation or actual damages, rising to US$1,500 per violation if knowing or intentional. Federal rules travel into Texas courts this way. Our guide to TCPA rules for B2B cold calling covers which federal rules reach business numbers.

A checklist before you call Texas

1. Decide with counsel whether chapter 302 registration applies, and which exemption you rely on. Write the reason down.
2. If you register, set reminders for the annual renewal and the quarterly salesperson addendum.
3. Treat texts like calls under chapter 302 from 1 Sep 2025.
4. Call residential numbers only inside the 301.051 hours, and give name, company, and purpose first.
5. Scrub consumer telemarketing lists against the Texas no-call list within 60 days of each release.
6. Show a real number you answer, registered to you or the company you call for.
7. Log every request to stop calling and honor it.

For other states, see our state telemarketing calling hours table and the Florida telemarketing law guide.

How DialSavvy handles this

Before every call, DialSavvy checks calling hours in the contact’s time zone and your own do-not-call list, using rule packs by country. National do-not-call registry checks and per-state US rules are coming. Registration with the Texas Secretary of State is your filing, not ours. See DialSavvy compliance and the dialer.

Bring a Texas list to a demo, and we’ll show you which checks run on each contact before the first ring.