Cold calling is officially banned, but you'll have to wait a little longer

This Wednesday, May 14, 2025, marks a major victory in the fight against telephone canvassing. From now on, no one will be legally subject to telephone canvassing on landlines or mobiles unless they have given explicit consent to this canvassing and unless the call comes from an operator with which they have a current contract. A definite victory for Delphine Batho, MP for the second constituency of Deux-Sèvres, who initiated several amendments adopted in the text.

No exceptions, but...

The good news is that there will be no exceptions to this ban. Until now, businesses did not need any authorization to contact individuals. It was only possible to oppose unwanted canvassing by directly notifying the calling organization or by registering for the Bloctel service. With this law, it's quite the opposite. Only French people who have given their prior consent will be able to be contacted. Another piece of good news: even if they have an existing contract, companies will only be able to call to improve the related service or product.

The bad news is that we'll have to wait a little longer to benefit from the law. The ban has been set to come into effect on August 11, 2026, more than a year from now. The wait promises to be long, but it should allow the DGCCRF to put in place concrete means to enforce the law and ensure everyone's right to peace of mind. In the meantime, the Senate must still ratify the text next week.

Some unknowns

Another gray area, to be clarified before August 2026: how companies will be able to legally collect consumers' consent. A simple click on a box or a tacit agreement via a contract could be enough, which would seriously undermine the purpose of the text. Also, despite an initial ban on canvassing regarding the CPF and energy renovation, the phones continue to ring. Despite the €4.4 million fine imposed by the DGCCRF in 2023, fraudulent companies—often based abroad—that are already breaking the rules may not pay much attention to this new law. In the meantime, we will have to continue relying on much more reliable third-party solutions.