Since 11 August 2026, cold calls in France need consent, within a 45-hour weekly window

For years, French consumers had to register on the Bloctel list to stop unwanted sales calls. Since 11 August 2026, the logic is reversed: a business may only canvass a consumer by phone if that consumer has agreed beforehand.

What changed on 11 August 2026

Article 13 of the law of 30 June 2025 against fraud rewrote article L223-1 of the Consumer Code. It now bans canvassing by phone a consumer who has not previously consented to it, and it is up to the business to prove that consent. The Bloctel opt-out articles are repealed.

The hours still apply

Article D223-9, amended in July 2026, keeps the calling window: Monday to Friday, 10 am to 1 pm and 2 pm to 8 pm, never on public holidays, and no more than 4 calls in 30 days.

Why inbound leads matter more now

A visitor who fills in your form or asks your chat to be called back has asked for contact. That is not canvassing. With cold calling now restricted to people who opted in, the leads your website collects become one of the few ways left to start a phone conversation with a new consumer.

• Record the request: keep the date and the wording of what the visitor asked for.
• Call back about what they asked, not about something else.
• Make the call back easy to ask for: a chat that collects a number and a preferred time does exactly that.