January 30, 2026 • 4 min read
California Lawmaker Proposes 5-Minute Human Customer Support Rule for Big Businesses
Director of Content & Market Research
January 30, 2026
A prominent California lawmaker has introduced a bill that would require contact centers to connect customers with a human representative within five minutes.
The proposed Right to Human Customer Services Act (AB 1609) would apply to large private companies selling goods and services in California, mandating timely human support across voice and digital channels during business hours.
It would also prohibit brands from mislabeling AI systems as human, requiring them to offer “clear disclosures” to customers when they interact with automated systems.
Lastly, it will ensure businesses “prominently” display a phone number, so customers can call in for human assistance when required.
Rick Chavez Zbur, Democratic Caucus Chair and Assemblymember, hopes his bill will address long hold times and ‘doom loops,’ where consumers struggle to reach a live representative.
"Technology should make life easier, not lock people out of the help they need," said Zbur.
"When Californians reach out for customer support, they deserve timely, transparent access to a real human who can understand their situation and help solve the problem."
Customers don't only deserve that human touch; they crave it. That's according to a 2025 study, which found that just knowing a human rep is available reduces customer anxiety.
However, many companies do little to ease that anxiety, thanks to an industry-wide focus on "containment" as the lead metric for monitoring the success of customer-facing AI. That's a problem.
How Did We Get Here?
Goodhart’s Law warns: "When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure."
When “containment” or “deflection” becomes the goal, "doom loops" emerge.
After battling these doom loops, customers who finally reach a rep are more frustrated and stressed than when they started.
Yet, doom loops aren’t always a mistake, sometimes they’re intentional.
Last year, HP enforced a 15-minute mandatory wait time on customers calling in, which it had hoped would prompt them to explore online service alternatives.
Yet, service reps complained about dealing with the wrath of customers who had been made to wait for such a long period. As a result, HP walked back on this policy.
Unfortunately, other brands have stuck to their guns, and doom loops remain a widespread customer grievance.
In 2025, the term "customer sludge" gained traction after consumers criticized brands for creating excessive hurdles for simple tasks, such as canceling subscriptions.
Now, the lawmakers are stepping in.
Indeed, Zbur complained about AI systems that fail to understand complex issues, spew scripted responses, and disconnect calls prematurely, draining consumers' time and allowing critical issues to go unresolved.
His bill has received support from the Communication Workers of America (CWA) District 9, a large union covering California, Hawaii, and Nevada, that is concerned about how these issues impact employees.
“Many of our union members are the first and most important line of contact with consumers, and we take pride in resolving issues when someone reaches out for help.”
“Technology should not be used to the detriment of consumers and workers."
The hope for Zbur and Arse is that vulnerable Californians can solve queries around healthcare, housing, utility, travel, and various other services, which can have significant consequences if left unanswered.
However, there are possible unintended consequences of such regulations, which could concern contact center leaders and their resource planners.
Gartner Warns This Type of Regulation Could Hike Assisted-Service Volumes by 30%
Anticipating a wave of regulations mandating the right to human customer service, Gartner warned such measures could increase assisted contact center demand by as much as 30% over the next two years.
Consequently, many organizations might have to expand their customer service teams instead of scaling them back, the research firm reports.
Observers of similar proposed regulations, like the Keep Call Centers in America Act, have previously raised concerns that businesses may offload these costs onto customers.
However, AI isn’t only meant to replace customer service reps, it can also augment their role, auto-suggesting replies, automating desktop processes, and auto-summarizing conversations. These may drive greater efficiency and counteract this demand.
Additionally, these regulations may help contact centers refocus on addressing the root cause of customer demand, instead of laying automation over the top. By doing so, businesses can counteract the impact of these regulations on their assisted-service volume.
Whatever the case, claims from AI leaders such as Sam Altman that customer service jobs will be among the first to be automated, appear increasingly unlikely, thanks, in part, to these predictions.