How Much Can You Be Fined Per Violation Under the TCPA?

Under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, a private plaintiff can recover $500 per violation — or their actual monetary loss, whichever is greater — under 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3). If a court finds the violation willful or knowing, it has discretion to treble that amount to $1,500 per violation. There's no aggregate cap, so damages scale directly with the number of unlawful calls or texts sent.

Why "Per Violation" Is the Dangerous Part

The statute doesn't cap total exposure per case or per defendant — it multiplies by the count of individual calls or texts found unlawful. That structure is what turns TCPA litigation into potentially massive exposure for a business that sends at any real volume: a campaign that improperly texts 10,000 numbers without proper consent isn't exposed to a single $500-$1,500 penalty, it's exposed to that amount multiplied by every non-compliant message. Documented litigation includes a judgment of $925 million against a defendant found liable for more than 1.8 million calls — and that figure wasn't even trebled for willfulness, it was the base statutory amount applied at scale.

What "Willful or Knowing" Actually Requires

Courts don't agree on a single standard for when a violation counts as willful or knowing, which matters because it's the difference between $500 and $1,500 per violation. Some courts require the defendant to have known its specific conduct violated the TCPA. Others require only that the defendant knowingly and intentionally made the call or sent the text — without needing to show the defendant understood that doing so broke the law. Because this varies by jurisdiction, the practical effect is that the same conduct could be judged $500-per-violation negligent in one court and $1,500-per-violation willful in another.

Both Calls and Texts Count

The statute's "per violation" language applies the same way to unsolicited robocalls and unsolicited text messages — a marketing SMS program isn't treated as lower-risk than voice calling under this part of the statute. A business running SMS campaigns through an automated platform is exposed to the identical per-message damages structure as a business running an autodialed calling campaign, which is a meaningful point of confusion for teams that assume texting carries lighter legal risk than calling.

Plaintiffs Can Also Seek an Injunction

Beyond monetary damages, the statute allows a plaintiff to seek injunctive relief — a court order stopping the ongoing conduct — either instead of or in addition to statutory damages. That means a non-compliant campaign can be shut down by court order even in cases where the monetary exposure alone wouldn't be the biggest concern.

Bottom Line

Treat consent records for every number on an automated calling or texting list as the actual legal defense against a $500-$1,500-per-violation, uncapped liability exposure, and get specific counsel involved before scaling any outbound SMS or autodialed calling program rather than after a complaint arrives.

Sources: 47 U.S.C. § 227(b)(3), the TCPA's private right of action provision; Burr & Forman LLP legal analysis, "The TCPA – Recoverable Damages" (burr.com); DNC.com compliance guidance, "What Are the Penalties Associated with TCPA Violations?" (dnc.com).