Cold calling is (almost) over: here's what will actually change after the law is passed by Parliament

Soon the end of untimely calls to "take advantage of state aid" or "change operator".

A final vote by the Senate this Wednesday, May 21, on a proposed law against "public aid fraud" made it possible to ratify the ban on telephone canvassing without consumer consent .

What does the law say?

The text prohibits companies from soliciting by telephone "directly or through a third party acting on its behalf" a person "who has not previously expressed their consent " in a "free, specific, informed, unequivocal and revocable" manner.

It will be up to the company to prove that the consumer has clearly expressed their agreement to be contacted by telephone.

The only exception is when the solicitation occurs "in the context of the execution of a current contract".

"We are fed up with being constantly sold heat pumps or windows," declared Amélie de Montchalin, Minister of Public Accounts, welcoming a measure that will protect "the most vulnerable, the oldest, those who sometimes do not realize that this telephone harassment is nothing other than the showcase for enormous fraud and theft mechanisms ."

The text also prohibits commercial prospecting by electronic means (email, SMS, social networks, etc.) in the sectors of energy renovation and housing adaptation.

When will it come into effect?

The text provides that this system will come into force in August 2026 .

A delay regretted by some parliamentarians, while others would have liked to see an exception voted by the Assembly retained for food companies, for example those delivering frozen foods to individuals.

The agreement reached by deputies and senators in the joint committee "was to say that the stakeholders will have a year to organize themselves , but that no exceptions will be made" for any sector, explained to AFP Horizons senator Pierre-Jean Verzelen, who initiated this measure.

What about the current system?

The parliamentarians wanted to react because the current system, Bloctel , which requires consumers to register on a list if they want to be spared from canvassing, has not proven effective.

Denis Grugeon, 46, was registered with Bloctel but regularly received calls from canvassers. So he "made a radical decision: to refuse all calls from numbers not registered in my address book," he says.