> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Frequency Caps as a TCPA Litigation-Risk Control

> Where tenant-owned per-recipient frequency caps sit in a TCPA posture: default off, fail-open, composed with the federal dialing window and state mini-TCPA overlays, and never a claim that a cap satisfies a statute.

# Frequency Caps as a TCPA Litigation-Risk Control

> [!WARNING]
>
> This page describes a tenant-owned control, not legal advice. Whether a
> cap configuration is adequate for your traffic depends on your
> jurisdiction, your recipients, and what you send. Confirm with qualified
> counsel.

The posture map's voice rows control *when* a call may go: the federal
8 AM–9 PM dialing window, the state mini-TCPA overlays, and your tenant
quiet-hours gate. Frequency caps are the tenant-owned control for the
other half of the exposure: *how many times* one recipient can be reached
in a day. A cap is one of the few shipped controls that mechanically
bounds per-recipient call and message volume, which is why tenants
assembling a TCPA posture use it as a litigation-risk-reduction layer.

## The posture in one row

| Surface | Toggle location | Default | Fail-open or fail-closed | Deep page |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| **Frequency caps (per-recipient rolling send limits)** | `GET` / `POST` / `PATCH` / `DELETE /api/v1/frequency-caps/`; Settings → Frequency caps; live per-contact usage at `GET /api/v1/contacts/:id/cap-status` | No rules — nothing capped until you create one | Fail-open where nothing is set (a rule-lookup failure lets the send through); **fail-closed for caps you create** — a send past its cap is rejected `429 FREQUENCY_CAP_EXCEEDED` | [Frequency caps guide](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/guides/frequency-caps.md) |

## How tenants use it in a TCPA posture

* **Per-day voice cap.** A `voice` cap of 2–3 per contact per rolling day
  leaves room for legitimate retries inside the federal window and any
  state overlay, while bounding the repeated-calls pattern behind
  "too many calls" claims. Size it at or below any per-day limit counsel
  identifies for a state you send to.
* **Per-day SMS cap.** A cap of 2–3 per contact per day, scoped to your
  promotional categories, reduces the repeated-message pattern that
  drives consent revocation and TCPA-adjacent "too many messages" claims.
* **State per-day mirrors.** The seven state overlays Orbit enforces
  today are window and blocked-day rules only. Where counsel confirms a
  state per-day call-count statute (for example Fla. Stat. § 501.059),
  mirror it with a keyed category cap bound to the segment you resolve to
  that state. The [frequency caps guide](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/guides/frequency-caps.md#state-per-day-limits)
  carries the worked example and the `FREQUENCY_CAP_EXCEEDED` read-back.

## What the control is not

* **Not a platform mandate.** No cap exists until you create one, and a
  counter or rule-lookup failure lets the send through rather than
  holding it. Orbit enforces what you set and nothing more.
* **Not a satisfaction claim.** A cap bounds volume; it does not establish
  consent, and no configuration here is a claim that any statute is
  satisfied.
* **Not a when-control.** Caps compose with, and never substitute for, the
  federal window, the state overlays, and quiet hours: a send inside the
  window can still be capped, and a capped send still waits for a slot
  even inside the window. Opt-out and suppression run ahead of the cap in
  the send pipeline, and the cap gate reads per-channel consent the same
  way the `cap-status` snapshot reports it.

## Related

* [Frequency caps guide](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/guides/frequency-caps.md) — mechanics, scoping, and
  the worked examples this page summarizes.
* [TCPA State-by-State Map for 2026](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/compliance/tcpa-state-map-2026.md) — the
  window and blocked-day overlays a per-day cap sits beside.
* [US State Calling Windows](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/compliance/state-calling-windows.md) — the full
  overlay mechanics and state-resolution notes.
* [Quiet Hours FAQ](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/compliance/quiet-hours-faq.md) — how the when-layers
  compose at the send site.
* [Your Tenant Compliance Posture: The Toggle Map](https://docs.orbit.devotel.io/compliance/posture-overview.md) —
  the control index this page rows into.


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