France Made Telemarketing Calls Illegal. The Fine Is $435,000 Per Call.

A new French law that entered into force on August 11, 2026 prohibits companies from making unsolicited sales calls to consumers without their explicit prior consent, replacing a previous opt-out system that consumer groups said was routinely ignored by call centers. Under the old rules, French residents who wanted to avoid marketing calls had to register with a government-run service. Many did. Many still received calls anyway. An Ireland-based company was fined six million euros the previous year for calling people who were on that very list. The new law flips the requirement entirely: businesses are now prohibited from contacting consumers without their prior consent, and that consent can be withdrawn at any time. Alice Vilcot, chief of staff at France's Directorate-General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Prevention of Fraud, put the change in two sentences. The old system was opt-out. This one is opt-in.

The law is a response to years of documented complaints. Authorities estimate that approximately three-quarters of people in France were receiving at least one unsolicited sales call every week, with many receiving considerably more. In 2024, eleven consumer organizations issued a joint statement denouncing what they called the relentless harassment of consumers through countless unwanted calls to landlines and mobile phones, describing it as an intrusion that had become a regular part of daily life. Parliament approved the legislation last year. The penalties for non-compliance are significant: individual callers who make illegal calls can be fined up to 75,000 euros, or about $87,000, per call. Companies face fines of up to 375,000 euros, roughly $435,000, per call. Exceptions exist: consumers can consent to receive marketing calls by checking a consent box, and companies may contact existing customers about new commercial offers within an established contractual relationship. Germany has had a similar opt-in ban in place since 2009. Most other countries, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, still rely on opt-out systems where consumers must register to avoid calls rather than companies being required to obtain permission before making them.

Source:https://apnews.com/article/france-unsolicited-telemarketing-ban-4c946192a1e0d611fd80eacc708aa7da