Telephone solicitations: what are the new regulations?

In a world of instant communication, telephone calls play a crucial role in business communication. However, with the spread of telephone solicitations, regulatory authorities have taken steps to protect consumers from abuse and nuisance. Inbound and outbound call regulations aim to set strict standards for companies and organisations seeking to contact consumers by telephone. Do you run a call centre and want to find out about the new rules for telephone prospecting? Read on to learn more.

What is telephone solicitation?

Telephone solicitation, also known as telephone prospecting, is the commercial practice of contacting individuals or companies by telephone to offer them products or services. These people, known as prospects, have not necessarily expressed an interest in the products or services in question.

Many professionals use this approach as it’s a proven effective way of generating leads or marketing products or services.

There are different telephone solicitation techniques:

• Cold calling, which involves contacting people who have never heard of the company or its products;
• Warm calling, which involves calling people who have already expressed an interest in the company or its products;
• Telemarketing: the individual or professional offers products or services directly over the telephone.

Often used by telemarketing companies, telephone canvassing can be perceived as intrusive and unsolicited by those contacted. To prevent abuse and protect consumers, regulations have been introduced in various countries.

In France in particular, telephone canvassing is regulated to limit unsolicited calls, protect individual privacy and guarantee greater control over receiving commercial communications.

What are the new regulations on telephone solicitations in France?

Here are the current rules concerning telephone canvassing.

Prohibition on telephone solicitations in certain areas

Since the introduction of Act no. 2020-901 of 24 July 2020 aimed at regulating telephone canvassing and combating fraudulent calls, telephone solicitations in the area of energy renovation has been prohibited. Commercial calls in this sector were often associated with aggressive and misleading practices, taking advantage of consumers’ vulnerability. Consumers do not always have the skills to assess the relevance and quality of offers made over the telephone.

What’s more, following Act no. 2022-1587 of 19 December 2022, which tackles fraud involving the Personal Training Account (compte personnel de formation – CPF), canvassing for CPF holders by telephone, text message, email or via social networks is now strictly prohibited. Only canvassing as part of a training programme in progress between the training organisation and the CPF holder is allowed.

Regulations on time slots

The days, times and frequency of unsolicited commercial prospecting calls are regulated by a decree which became effective on 1 March 2023:

Authorised times and days

Consumers may be called by telephone for the purposes of cold calling from Monday to Friday, from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 8pm. Calls are not permitted on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

Frequency of calls

According to the above-mentioned decree, the same person or company is not authorised to call the same consumer more than four times in any 30-day period if they are operating for their own business. This figure includes calls made with or without reason, attempted calls and voicemails.

What is Bloctel?

Bloctel is a free service enabling consumers to register up to 10 landline or mobile telephone numbers, in order to block telephone canvassing on these numbers. All professionals are prohibited from canvassing consumers on the Bloctel list, except :

• as part of a current contract
• when the call is for the supply of newspapers, periodicals or magazines
• calls from polling institutes or non-profit-making associations
• provided it is not for commercial canvassing.

To ensure that your contact list does not contain numbers registered with Bloctel, you must submit your contact list to the Bloctel service prior to the telephone canvassing campaign if you only canvass occasionally. If you canvass on a regular basis, you must use the Bloctel service at least once a month.

The duties of professionals who use telephone solicitations

The governing authorities impose certain obligations on professionals who choose to canvass by telephone. At the beginning of the call, they must inform the consumer in a clear, precise and comprehensible manner of the commercial nature of the call and of their identity.

When cold calling, the sales professional is not authorised to use a masked number. Therefore, from 1 January 2023, the use of numbers beginning with 06 and 07 by professionals for canvassing is prohibited. Authorised numbers are those starting with 09 37, 09 38 and 09 39.

The consumer’s rights when dealing with cold callers

Consumers have several rights when they are canvassed by telephone, which the professional must respect:

• The right to ask to be put on the Bloctel list, so as not to receive commercial calls;
• The right to have their number removed from the company’s database;
• The right to give consent to be called for commercial prospecting purposes;
• The right to request full information about the identity of the canvasser, its products or services, and the terms and conditions of sale;
• the right to refuse the offer made by the professional, without having to provide any justification. If the offer is accepted, the consumer has a cancellation period of 14 days after signing the contract.

What are the penalties for non-compliance with telephone solicitations regulations?

Failure to comply with regulations on cold calling can result in severe penalties for companies. In France, penalties can include fines of up to €75,000 for individuals and up to €375,000 for corporate bodies. In addition, offending companies can be banned from cold calling and placed on a blacklist that can be consulted by consumers. The regulatory authorities can also order the suspension or revocation of commercial licences. These measures are taken to dissuade companies from engaging in abusive or illegal telephone canvassing.

Choose ProContact to manage your outgoing calls

If you have a business strategy based on telephone canvassing to generate sales or promote your products or services, entrust the prospecting aspect to a qualified contact centre like ProContact. You can count on our specialised infrastructure and our professionals trained in sales and communication to reach a large number of prospects. What’s more, we keep abreast of the latest regulatory developments related to telephone canvassing to ensure that your marketing strategy is compliant and that your campaigns are managed professionally.

Reach out today via our contact form or call us on (+33) 1 84 76 24 03 for your tailor-made offer.