France clamps down on nuisance calls with new law and steep fines
A new French law has narrowed down the scope of legal nuisance calls, banning energy renovation calls completely and introducing steep fines for rule-breakers.
The law was adopted to "better protect consumers" from "abusive, fraudulent and overpriced calls," according to a government statement.
Nuisance calls have long been a plague for people people in France, especially those with landlines, and while the law does not ban these types of calls altogether, it has set up a clear framework for regulating them.
The law has set up rules regulating the types of calls allowed as well the days and hours when such calls can be made.
All telephone calls regarding energy renovation work proposals have been banned. This was a request from French construction companies themselves, a sector that has complained about fraudulent callers pestering their business market.
All commercial callers must from now on remind the person on the other side of the line that they can sign up to Bloctel, a French public service, free of charge for individuals, that blocks a large range of commercial calls (you can subscribe here).
Those breaking the new rules risk a fine up to €75,000 for individuals and €375,000 for companies (compared to €3,000 and €15,000 previously).
The law was proposed back in 2018 but was only passed through the French parliament on July 15th this year. It formally entered into effect on July 25th.
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The law was adopted to "better protect consumers" from "abusive, fraudulent and overpriced calls," according to a government statement.
Nuisance calls have long been a plague for people people in France, especially those with landlines, and while the law does not ban these types of calls altogether, it has set up a clear framework for regulating them.
The law has set up rules regulating the types of calls allowed as well the days and hours when such calls can be made.
All telephone calls regarding energy renovation work proposals have been banned. This was a request from French construction companies themselves, a sector that has complained about fraudulent callers pestering their business market.
All commercial callers must from now on remind the person on the other side of the line that they can sign up to Bloctel, a French public service, free of charge for individuals, that blocks a large range of commercial calls (you can subscribe here).
Those breaking the new rules risk a fine up to €75,000 for individuals and €375,000 for companies (compared to €3,000 and €15,000 previously).
The law was proposed back in 2018 but was only passed through the French parliament on July 15th this year. It formally entered into effect on July 25th.
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