2025 list: Phone numbers to block to limit cold calls in France
New list of authorised telemarketing numbers is published by French communications watchdog
Cold calls, or unsolicited marketing calls, are legal in France but governed by legislation to protect consumers
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The French telecommunications watchdog has published its list of authorised telemarketing phone numbers for 2025, enabling people to recognise - and block them.
Up to 97% of people in France say they are annoyed by cold calls, according to a recent survey by consumer magazine UFC-Que Choisir in October 2024.
Nonetheless, cold calls, or unsolicited marketing calls, are still legal in France but governed by legislation to protect consumers.
They are not the same as spam, or scam calls, which are illegal.
Read more: Scammers using UK phone numbers to target people in France
Rules on cold calls in France
The current legislation on cold calls is intended to protect consumers from calls at anti-social hours or from calls that are too frequent.
Cold calls are only authorised on weekdays between 10:00 to 13:00 and 14:00 to 20:00 up to a maximum of four times per professional per month, unless you opt-out by listing your number on the Blocktel service, available here.
Read more: Explainer: When and by whom can you be cold-called in France?
The rules also oblige the calls to originate from certain authorised phone numbers, with limited exceptions.
The list of these authorised numbers is managed by the Autorité de régulation des communications électroniques, des postes et de la distribution de la presse (Arcep, the French telecommunications watchdog).
In 2025, the vast majority of telemarketing calls come from numbers starting with:
01 62
01 63
02 70
02 71
03 77
03 78
04 24
04 25
05 68
05 69
09 48
09 49
How to block cold calls in France
If you receive a call starting with one of these numbers, it is from a telemarketing agency.
You can add phone numbers starting with these digits to your list of blocked calls on your smartphone.
However, note that telemarketers typically have many alternative numbers.
Two of the main telephone operators in France - Orange and Free - have set up tools on their websites where clients can request their numbers are not passed on.
This works with both mobile and landlines that operate through fibre-optic boxes, but is less effective with landlines that still use copper cables.
That there are also some permitted exceptions for companies to contact clients with other professional numbers.
Read more: Tips to limit cold calls to your home in France
Law to ban cold calls in France
Despite the publication of these authorised numbers, there is a move to effectively ban marketing calls outright for most people.
In November 2024, the senate voted unanimously in favour of introducing an ‘opt-in’ system, whereby operators would have to propose the choice of allowing cold calls as part of their phone contracts.
Without this explicit consent, people would automatically be taken off the authorised list.
A bill on anti-fraud measures relating to public funds included an amendment that would require consumers to 'opt-in' to cold calls via written permission, which was recently passed unanimously by French MPs.
Read more: French MPs vote in favour of people opting in rather than out of receiving cold calls
