Telephone canvassing prohibited: this new law that will change your life

© Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio

Even today, cold calling is a real scourge. It's hard to escape it: despite increasingly strict rules, consumers are still far too solicited for their liking. A UFC-Que Choisir study published in December 2023 highlighted that 72% of French people say they receive at least one call per week from telemarketers.

Despite the existence of tools like Bloctel or Orange Téléphone and the fact that tech giants are working hard to combat cold calling, it remains a real source of stress and anxiety for consumers.

This is why the MP and former Minister Delegate for Public Accounts Thomas Cazenave is behind a new bill aimed at combating unwanted telephone canvassing. Good news: it was unanimously adopted by the National Assembly on Monday, January 27, 2025.

The end of telephone canvassing!

Yesterday, the National Assembly carefully examined a new bill. Aiming to combat fraud involving public aid, an amendment was tabled and adopted, establishing “the principle of prohibiting non-consensual commercial telephone canvassing”.

To put it simply: consumers are now actors in their telephone canvassing instead of being subjected to it. Everyone is therefore free to accept or not to be canvassed. Thus, telemarketers can no longer contact you if you have not explicitly given your consent, for example via an online form or by email. The only exception? You can still be contacted as part of an ongoing contract that is related to the purpose of the contract.

Until now, consumers had to indicate their opposition to telephone canvassing. This new law will therefore reverse the rules, and that's a good thing. As with promotional emails, you must agree to be contacted. A default ban is highly welcome. Remember that telephone canvassing regularly leads to forced subscriptions.

The government has been trying to combat this scourge for some time. For several years, telephone canvassers have no longer been allowed to call on public holidays and weekends and must make do with certain very strict time slots: between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. In addition, a consumer cannot be called back within two months after being contacted by a telephone advisor. Despite these limits, telephone canvassing continues to weigh on the morale of the French. It was therefore time for this law to see the light of day.

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