The rules change for cold calling from March 1. Calls are prohibited on weekends and very tight schedules during the week. This is progress, but it is not the fundamental change that consumer associations were hoping for.
Enough to silence unwanted phone calls. Like those who startle Guy Roland receives, up to three times a day: “I was called by an ’01’ for a commercial canvassing. It’s really very disturbing. People who want to sell you windows, every day… I don’t answer, but sometimes I get angry on the phone. So it’s good news that it’s forbidden on weekends“, he slips relieved. Because, in the face of these abuses, a decree comes into force on March 1, 2023.
It is now forbidden to call for commercial canvassing on weekends and public holidays. On weekdays, calls must be made between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m., or between 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Administrations, polling institutes and the press are not affected by this supervision of cold calling.
>> Telephone canvassing: the underside of these abusive calls
Consumer groups called for a ban
Even in these slots, a business can no longer call a consumer more than four times per month. In case of refusal, companies will have to wait 2 months before calling back consumers. In the event of non-compliance with these new rules, the fines range from 75,000 euros for a natural person to 375,000 euros for a legal person.
This protection was claimed by the victims of these calls with 20,000 reports each month last year on the “SignalConso” site. These associations, however, demanded a total change of philosophy with the principle of banning cold calling except with the explicit agreement of an individual. But the argument of employment has undoubtedly weighed: the sector employs nearly 300,000 people in France, often in deindustrialized basins.
Register on the Bloctel platform to stop being called
“It would be pointless to completely bane canvassing, also assures Christophe Naegelen, this Wednesday on franceinfo. The UDI deputy of the 3rd district of the Vosges is at the origin of the law on the supervision of telephone canvassing. Christophe Naegelen explains that the total ban would be useless, because certain companies “would continue to break the law”. It is currently mandatory for companies to pass their contact file on the Bloctel platform, to withdraw all customers who refuse canvassing.
The Vosgien ensures that it would be necessary “increase the number of staff at the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Prevention (DGCCRF)” to better control these companies. The deputy recommends to “everyone to register” on Bloctel. If you are called by a telephone platform outside the authorized hours or during the weekend, you must “note the number and call the DGCCRF” to allow the company to be sanctioned, he argues.
In 2022, 20,000 reports were recorded each month on the SignalConso site, a government site intended for consumers.