Telephone canvassing: the law will become stricter in 2026

We presented to you the bill proposed by the Ensemble pour la République MP Thomas Cazenave " against all fraud involving public aid", submitted on October 14, 2024. It includes severe measures against abusive telephone canvassing. The practice, which has become unbearable for some French people, had already suffered a first blow after the failure of the Bloctel system, set up in 2016, almost 10 years ago already. And for good reason: it had not prevented abusive canvassing from literally exploding , on landlines as well as smartphones, not to mention attempts at outright scams ( such as those of scammers ). But there is good news for next year.

Law against telephone canvassing validated and strengthened?

We already knew that it was planned that companies would no longer be able to attempt to call "directly or through a third party acting on its behalf" an individual who has not " previously expressed their consent to be the subject of commercial prospecting by this means." Another measure maintained is that of the "customer exception": a company "in the context of the execution of a current contract" will be able to contact you if the call has a connection with the latter, only . Perhaps to curb attempts to oppose this law by the Direct Selling Federation . The call could be an opportunity to offer a product, a "related or complementary" service, or even "likely to improve the performance or quality" of the current contract, specifies La Chaîne Parlementaire .

Let's get back to our good news: on May 6, deputies and senators meeting in a joint committee agreed on Thomas Cazenave's text and even strengthened it . The vote on the latter will take place today in the Assembly, and on May 14 in the Senate. There is little doubt about its adoption. Let us recall that at the initiative of the Les Démocrates senators, a complementary bill "for consensual telephone canvassing" had already been adopted at the Palais Bourbon on March 6. If all goes well, the law will definitively come into force on August 11, 2026. A deadline that seems long, but many companies will have to review their models in the meantime.

Telephone canvassing: new bans?

In contrast to the March 6th bill, which provided for an exception for companies selling "foodstuffs or products intended for pet food" at home to continue to engage in telephone canvassing, the joint committee removed it from the text. Thus, according to La Chaîne Parlementaire, frozen food companies, which were supposed to benefit from this exception, such as Thiriet and Argel, will be deprived of it. Olivier Rietmann, the Republican rapporteur for the text in the Senate: "I refuse to allow us to write the law in response to the requests of a few companies that are an extreme minority." Even "telephone canvassing for work concerning the adaptation of a home to disability or old age" will be prohibited.

Originally designed to combat energy renovation fraud (MaPrimeRénov' scams, €1 appliances like heat pumps, free installation that isn't free...), this law will also prevent you from the infamous calls about your CPF (My Training Account) account that bordered on harassment for two years. There will be crackdowns; notably through the withdrawal of public aid for 3 months: "in the presence of serious evidence of deliberate breach or fraudulent maneuvers with a view to obtaining or attempting to obtain" this aid. The withdrawal will be renewable. In addition, "In the event of deliberate breach or fraudulent maneuvers," the application for public aid may be rejected outright.

Doubts remain about the fraudsters' power to cause harm

The Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) would see its "prerogatives" strengthened and the various administrations would be able to communicate with each other more easily . But, as Pleine Vie points out, can we really talk about the end of telephone canvassing in the face of the technologies that are now available to fraudsters? And to quote the president of the French Customer Relations Association , Éric Dadian : " In Germany, a similar law has been in force for several years... without having eradicated fraudulent calls. The problem is that malicious actors are already not respecting the rules in place. What would prevent them from circumventing the next ones?" The answer at the end of 2026.