NY Gen Bus L § 399-P (2021)
2021 New York Laws GBS - General Business Article 26 - Miscellaneous 399-P - Telemarketing; Use of Automatic Dialing-Announcing Devices and Placement of Consumer Telephone Calls.

§  399-p.  Telemarketing;  use of automatic dialing-announcing devices and placement of consumer telephone calls. 1. Definitions.  As  used  in this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:  (a)   "automatic   dialing-announcing   device"  means  any  automatic equipment which incorporates a storage capability of  telephone  numbers to  be  called  and  is used, working alone or in conjunction with other equipment, to disseminate a prerecorded message to the telephone  number called without the use of an operator;  (b)   "person"   means   any   natural   person,  firm,  organization, partnership,  association  or  corporation,  or  other  entity,  whether for-profit or not-for-profit;  (c)  "consumer"  means  a natural person who is solicited to purchase, lease or receive a good or service for  personal,  family  or  household use;  (d)  "consumer telephone call" means a call made to a telephone number by a telephone solicitor, whether  by  device,  live  operator,  or  any combination  thereof,  for  the  purpose  of  soliciting  a  sale of any consumer goods or services for personal, family or household purposes to the consumer called, or for the purpose of soliciting  an  extension  of credit for consumer goods or services to the consumer called, or for the purpose of obtaining information that will or may be used for the direct solicitation  of  a  sale  of consumer goods or services to the consumer called or an extension of credit for such purposes;  provided,  however, that  "consumer  telephone  call"  shall  not  include  a call made by a telephone corporation, as defined by subdivision  seventeen  of  section two  of  the  public  service  law,  in  response  to a specific inquiry initiated by a consumer regarding that consumer's existing or  requested telephone service; and  (e)  "telephone  solicitor"  means  a person who makes or causes to be made a consumer telephone call.   2. No person shall operate an automatic dialing-announcing device, nor place any  consumer  telephone  call,  except  in  accordance  with  the provisions of this section. The use of such device by any person, either individually  or  acting  as  an officer, agent, or employee of a person operating  automatic  dialing-announcing  devices,  is  subject  to  the provisions of this section.   3. Whenever telephone calls are placed through the use of an automatic dialing-announcing device, such device shall do all of the following:  (a)  state at the beginning of the call the nature of the call and the name of the person or on whose behalf the message is  being  transmitted and  at the end of such message the address, and telephone number of the person on  whose  behalf  the  message  is  transmitted,  provided  such disclosures  are  not otherwise prohibited or restricted by any federal, state or local law; and  (b)  disconnect  the  automatic  dialing-announcing  device  from  the telephone  line  upon  the  termination of the call by either the person calling or the person called.   4. No person shall  operate  an  automatic  dialing-announcing  device which  uses  a random or sequential number generator to produce a number to be called.   5. No automatic dialing-announcing device shall be used to call and no consumer telephone call shall be placed to an emergency  telephone  line including  but  not  limited  to any 911 or E-911 line, or any emergency line of any volunteer fire company or  fire  department;  any  emergency medical  service,  ambulance  service,  voluntary  ambulance  service or hospital ambulance service as defined in section three thousand  one  of the public health law; any hospital, nursing home, or residential health care  facility  as  defined  in  section twenty-eight hundred one of the  public health law; any adult care facility as defined in section two  of the  social  services  law;  or  any  law  enforcement  agency or to the telephone line of any guest  room  or  patient  room  of  any  hospital, nursing  home, or residential health care facility as defined in section two thousand eight hundred one of the public health law,  or  any  adult care  facility  as defined by section two of the social services law. It shall not constitute a violation of this subdivision if the  person  who places  such a call can affirmatively establish that the call was placed inadvertently despite good faith efforts on the part of such  person  to comply  with  the  provisions  of  this  section  and  such  person  has implemented a procedure to prevent subsequent calls from being placed to a particular prohibited telephone number.   6. A telephone solicitor shall not make a consumer telephone call to a consumer unless the telephone solicitor conforms with  subparagraph  one of   paragraph   b   of   subdivision   six  of  section  three  hundred ninety-nine-pp of this article. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to limit, annul, alter, or affect the provisions of subdivision three of this section.   6-a.  No  telephone  solicitor  or  person  who  places  any  consumer telephone  call  or  who operates an automatic dialing-announcing device and no  employer  of  any  such  telephone  solicitor  or  person  shall intentionally cause to be installed, or shall intentionally utilize, any blocking  device  or service to prevent the name and/or telephone number of such solicitor or person, or the name and/or telephone number of  his or  her employer, from being displayed on a caller identification device of the recipient of any such consumer telephone  call.  A  violation  of this subdivision shall be subject to the provisions of subdivision eight of this section.   7.  (a)  Federal,  state  or  local municipalities, or any subdivision thereof, using an  automatic  dialing-announcing  device  for  emergency purposes shall be exempted from the provisions of this section.  (b)   Notwithstanding   the   provisions  of  paragraph  (a)  of  this subdivision, any entity which operates  a  telephone  warning  or  alert system  which utilizes any such device for emergency purposes shall also be exempted from the provisions of this section.   8. Whenever there shall be a violation of this section, an application may be made by the attorney general in the name of  the  people  of  the state  of New York to a court or justice having jurisdiction to issue an injunction, and upon notice to the defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and restrain the continuance of such  violations;  and  if  it shall  appear  to  the  satisfaction  of  the court or justice, that the defendant has, in fact, violated  this  section  an  injunction  may  be issued  by  such  court or justice enjoining and restraining any further violation, without requiring proof that any person has,  in  fact,  been injured  or  damaged thereby. In any such proceeding, the court may make allowances to the attorney general  as  provided  in  paragraph  six  of subdivision  (a)  of  section  eighty-three  hundred  three of the civil practice law and rules, and direct restitution. Whenever the court shall determine that a violation of subdivision three, four or  five  of  this section  has  occurred, the court may impose a civil penalty of not more than two thousand dollars per call, up to  a  total  of  not  more  than twenty   thousand  dollars,  for  calls  placed  in  violation  of  such subdivisions within a continuous seventy-two hour period.  Whenever  the court  shall  determine  that  a  violation  of  subdivision six of this section, or a violation  of  subdivision  six-a  of  this  section,  has occurred,  the  court  may  impose  a civil penalty of not more than two thousand dollars. In connection with any such proposed application,  the attorney general is authorized to take proof and make a determination of  the  relevant  facts and to issue subpoenas in accordance with the civil practice law and rules.   9.  In addition to the right of action granted to the attorney general pursuant to this section, any person who has received a  telephone  call in  violation  of  subdivision  three,  four or five of this section may bring an action in his own name to enjoin such unlawful act or practice, an action to recover his actual damages or fifty dollars,  whichever  is greater,  or  both  such  actions.  The  court  may,  in its discretion, increase the award of damages to an amount not to exceed three times the actual damages up to one  thousand  dollars,  if  the  court  finds  the defendant  willfully  or knowingly violated such subdivisions. The court may award reasonable attorney's fees to a prevailing plaintiff.