Congress toughens robocall penalties: up to 3 years in prison
H.R. 6449 — DO NOT Call Act · Filed by David Kustoff (R-TN) · 13 cosponsors · Introduced Dec 4, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill strengthens criminal penalties for robocalls and unwanted telemarketing under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. It adds up to 1 year in prison for willful violations, up to 3 years for repeat offenders or those making over 100,000 calls in 24 hours, and increases fines for spoofed caller ID from unspecified amounts to $20,000 per violation.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is straightforward: it increases criminal penalties and civil fines for violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, specifically targeting robocalls, spoofed caller ID, and mass unwanted calling campaigns.
What the text implies
- The $20,000 fine for caller ID spoofing is per violation, not per campaign — a single robocall operation could face millions in fines if it makes thousands of spoofed calls, creating significant financial exposure for violators.
- The 'aggravated offense' threshold of 100,000 calls in 24 hours is low enough to catch many commercial robocall operations, but high enough to avoid catching legitimate high-volume callers (e.g., emergency alerts, appointment reminders) if they have prior consent.
The full analysis lists 4 implications of this text.
Who it affects
Ordinary people receive fewer unwanted calls and have stronger legal deterrents against robocall operators. The bill increases criminal penalties and fines, making it costlier and riskier for bad actors to conduct mass calling campaigns that disrupt households and enable fraud.