Tips to limit cold calls to your home in France
Know the laws and regulations and take steps to prevent unwanted marketing
Knowing the rules about marketing calls in France can help you tell if a company is breaking the law
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Cold calls - unsolicited marketing calls - can be a problem in France with people reporting receiving calls despite increased legislation to limit and prevent them.
Yet, there are some recommended ways to reduce them and tips to follow in case you continue to be disturbed. It also helps to know the law so you can identify if a company is acting legally or not, as outlined by Capital.
The legality of call calling
Cold calling in France is legal, but regulated by the law 2020-901 of July 24, 2020, which aims to lay out rules and limits for the practice, and fight against fraudulent calls.
Legitimate marketing calls - while frustrating - are not the same as spam, scam calls, or abusive harassment. These are callers who repeatedly call in an intrusive, repetitive, or aggressive manner. Sometimes their offers are also fraudulent or very overpriced. This is illegal.
Read also: Explainer: When and by whom can you be cold-called in France?
Regulations in France
There are also articles in the Code de la consommation (consumer code) that refer to cold calling, including for the creation of Bloctel, and the banning of misleading or aggressive commercial practices.
Rules include:
There are reports that this does not always happen with some saying they still receive calls despite signing up to Bloctel.
There are also rules on the times and call numbers, including:
Restrictions on the time slots allowed. There is also a ban on weekend and public holiday calls, and a limit of four calls per month per consumer.
Companies are required to use dedicated, identifiable numbers specifically for marketing. They cannot use numbers starting with 06 or 07, which are reserved for personal mobile lines.
On November 14, 2024, the Senate passed the first reading of a bill that would mean that consumers must give their prior consent for marketing calls. If this law is passed, marketing professionals will not be able to call consumers unless they have specifically opted in to allow this.
Read also: Right of firms to cold call homes in France under debate
Permitted call times
Since March 1, 2023 telephone marketing is only allowed during the following hours:
It is banned on weekends and public holidays (jours fériés).
Permitted call frequency
Companies can call the same consumer a maximum of four times per month, no matter the service or goods they are offering. This rule aims to prevent repeated, harassing calls.
If during a call the consumer states that they do not want to be contacted, the company must end the call immediately and cannot call again within the next 60 days.
Telephone marketing is banned completely for goods and services related to home energy renovations, and the government training programme le Compte Personnel de Formation (CPF).
Some companies that call consumers for non-marketing or sales reasons (such as for surveys or fundraising charities) retain the right to call outside of these terms, but must still adhere to rules on non-harassment or aggressive practices.
Required call practices
On a marketing call, the caller must:
Ask for the consumer's agreement to continue the call
Identify themselves or the professional or company they are calling from
Explain the purpose of the call (and its commercial nature)
End the call if the consumer requests it
Allow a period of 24 hours to elapse between any agreement of a contract or sale on the call, and the signing of the contract.
Companies must adhere to the European-wide GDPR practices, which include the sensitive storage of data, not sharing it, and the total deletion of all consumer data if the consumer requests it.
Punishment for companies that break the rules
Companies that breach these rules can be severely punished. Individuals risk a fine of €75,000, while companies can be fined up to €375,000. They can also be subject to extra sanctions if their practices are found to be illegal or abusive.
Tips to avoid cold calls
Sign up to Bloctel. Head to the Bloctel website (bloctel.gouv.fr) to register for free. This is not foolproof but it may reduce the number of calls you receive.
Use settings on your smartphone to block unwanted calls. Most allow you to set ‘silent hours’ or block or silence all calls that are not on your contacts or favourites list. This means that your contacts or ‘favourite contacts’ can still get through but others cannot.
Install apps designed to block unwanted calls. These include Truecaller, Orange Téléphone and Hiya.
Refuse marketing calls. When registering for services online or buying products, you can usually tick (or untick) a box saying that you do not agree to marketing calls. You may be able to choose only to be contacted by post or email and not by phone should you wish.
Ask to be removed from their database. When you receive an unwanted call, ask the caller not to call again and to remove you from their list.
Familiarise yourself with the numbers used by marketers. This may enable you to block them or not answer when they call. The numbers allowed vary by region, but all must be displayed when the company calls (e.g. marketers cannot show ‘Unknown number’).
The numbers allowed in mainland France are:
01 62 or 01 63
02 70 or 02 71
03 77 or 03 78
04 24 or 04 25
05 68 or 05 69
09 48 or 09 49
Read also: Tips to avoid cold calls in France - and what to say if you get one
Read more: Four ways to stop cold calls to your French telephone number
How to complain about calls
If you believe that a company is breaking a rule or acting illegally or unprofessionally you can report them.
You can:
Lodge a complaint with the consumer and fraud office la DGCCRF (Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes).
Contact the CNIL (Commission nationale de l'informatique et des libertés) if the company breaches the rules of GDPR.
Report them to the Signal Spam platform. This platform is supported by authorities and private partners. You can report spam, abusive calls and text messages. Numbers reported may be blocked or their owners prosecuted.
Forward a text message to 33700. This number connects to a free public service run with the Fédération française des Télécoms. You can report fraudulent voice spam and SMS messages. The group analyses numbers reported and can share the information with authorities.
