Disclaimer
This resource is for general informational purposes and is not legal advice.
France Do Not Call Laws
Last reviewed:
France no longer operates the Bloctel do-not-call registry. Since 11 August 2026, outbound consumer sales calls are generally prohibited unless the consumer gave prior consent or the call falls within a narrow exception such as an ongoing contract.
Compliance at a Glance
B2C Calls
Yes
B2B Calls
No
Scrubbing Frequency
Before each campaign.
Maximum Fine
Primary Regulators
Direction générale de la concurrence, de la consommation et de la répression des fraudes (DGCCRF), ministère de l’Économie
Relevant Regulations
Loi 2025-594 Fraudes
Décret n° 2026-662
Code Consommation L223-1
Do you need to screen phone numbers against the BLOCTEL list?
For B2C calls into France, do not rely on DNC scrubbing alone: Bloctel ended on 11 August 2026, and consumer telemarketing is now generally opt-in. Before calling consumers, confirm you have valid prior consent or that the call fits a narrow exception such as an ongoing contract; weekday calling windows, a four-attempts-per-30-days limit, caller-identification rules, and sector bans still apply. B2B calls are not covered by the consumer telemarketing regime, but calls involving business contacts’ personal data remain subject to GDPR/Loi Informatique et Libertés information and opt-out duties.
How often do you need to scrub against the BLOCTEL list?
Scrubbing requirements
Through 10 August 2026, a professional may not telephone a consumer who has registered the relevant number on Bloctel, subject principally to calls connected with an existing contract and limited statutory exceptions. A professional that habitually canvasses must submit its calling files to Bloctel for suppression; one whose canvassing is ancillary must do so before each campaign. The obligation applies equally when calls are placed through a contractor, so outsourcing does not avoid compliance. Calls for newspaper, periodical or magazine subscriptions are excepted from the Bloctel prohibition. Telephone solicitation concerning energy renovation and adaptation of housing for ageing/disability, and solicitation involving the personal training account, is subject to separate sector prohibitions. From 11 August 2026, Bloctel and its suppression-list provisions are abolished; the replacement rule is prior-consent-by-default rather than registry scrubbing. No separate French internal do-not-call-list cadence was verified, although objections/withdrawals must be respected under applicable consumer and data-protection rules.
Scrubbing frequency
Bloctel through 10 August 2026: at least monthly where telephone canvassing is conducted habitually; before every campaign where it is conducted only as an ancillary activity (Consumer Code art. R.223-6). Bloctel scrubbing ends on 11 August 2026 when those provisions are repealed and the prior-consent regime takes effect.
Do French Do Not Call laws apply to B2B calls?
B2C Calls —
Yes
This rule clearly applies to consumer-facing telemarketing. In France, businesses generally need a consumer’s prior consent before making commercial calls, and they must be able to prove that consent, respect calling-hour limits, and stop if the person objects.
B2B Calls —
No
This regime does not generally apply to business-to-business telephone prospecting because it is built around the legal concept of a consumer, not a company or professional acting for business purposes. That said, businesses calling named individuals at work may still face separate data-protection duties, such as providing information and honoring an opt-out request.
What requirements apply when making outbound calls in France?
• In France, consumer telephone canvassing is currently permitted only with prior consent or when the call concerns an existing contract, subject to narrow exceptions; no equivalent Bloctel suppression duty for calls solely to legal-person or business numbers was verified.
• An evidenced consumer request for information is not treated as canvassing if the call is made within five working days and is limited to the requested goods or services.
• Consent must be freely given, specific, informed, unambiguous, evidenced by a clear affirmative act, tied to the identified caller, goods or services, and duration, and it expires after no more than one year without tacit renewal.
• Keep digital consent evidence, including the date and time, for three years; provide it free of charge on a durable medium within a reasonable time and make withdrawal no harder than giving consent.
• Call consumers only Monday through Friday, excluding public holidays, from 10:00–13:00 or 14:00–20:00 in the consumer’s local time; consent for an out-of-hours call must specifically cover that time.
• Do not make more than four call attempts to the same consumer in any rolling 30-day period, and after a refusal during a conversation, do not contact that consumer again for 60 calendar days.
• At the start, identify the professional and clearly disclose the commercial purpose; do not use a withheld identity or number, and assess the separate electronic-communications rules when using automated calling machines or electronic direct marketing.
• Do not solicit in the specified sensitive sectors unless a precise statutory exception applies, and ensure contractors follow the same suppression, time-window, frequency, and other compliance controls.
What are the penalties for violating French Do Not Call laws?
Consumer Code art. L.242-16 authorizes administrative fines for unlawful telephone canvassing of up to €75,000 for a natural person and €375,000 for a legal person; DGCCRF may investigate, order compliance and publish sanctions. The cited official guidance describes these maxima for illegal canvassing, rather than a private per-call damages remedy. No Bloctel-specific private right of action or statutory/treble damages was identified in the reviewed primary sources. Other violations (including misleading practices, sector bans, data protection, numbering or electronic-communications rules) may carry separate sanctions not quantified here.
What exemptions apply to French Do Not Call laws?
On the Bloctel list, a business may call a consumer back if the consumer clearly asked for contact, such as by requesting a quote. The call-back must happen within a short time period, and the DGCCRF says that is 5 working days. The same short call-back rule also applies to energy-renovation and home-adaptation products covered by décret n° 2026-662, when the consumer expressly asked about them.
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On the BLOCTEL list, calls about a current contract are exempt from the prior-consent rule. This includes calls about the contract itself and about related or complementary products, or products that improve the contract’s performance or quality. The exemption applies only while the contract is still being carried out.
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In the BLOCTEL list system, SMS/MMS, email, fax, and calls made with automated dialers are not handled under the telephone-canvassing rules. Instead, they follow Article L34-5 of the French Postal and Electronic Communications Code (CPCE). That rule generally requires opt-in consent for individuals, allows a limited “soft opt-in” for existing customers and similar products, and uses an opt-out approach for business-to-business contact under CNIL guidance.
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In the Bloctel list, the former rules allowed some calls to be made even if a number was on the list. This covered survey and polling organizations, non-profit groups and public services that were not doing commercial prospecting, and call-backs requested by a consumer for a specific product or service. These carve-outs applied only under the former regime, up to 10 Aug 2026.
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On the BLOCTEL list, the usual limits on telemarketing calling hours do not apply if the consumer clearly agrees to be called at a specific date and time. The agreement must name the exact day and time for the call. This is a limited exception to the standard calling-hour rules.
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On the BLOCTEL list, calls for newspaper, magazine, or periodical subscriptions are not covered by the usual telemarketing ban. This exception only applies if the call follows the rules set by a decree on allowed days, hours, and call frequency. The rule in article L223-5 is in force from 11 Aug 2026.
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In the BLOCTEL list, there is no exemption for calls about energy renovation, adapting housing for age or disability, or CPF training accounts. These topics are completely banned, even if the person has given consent. The only exceptions are calls made under an existing contract or at the consumer’s express request.
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On the BLOCTEL list, the consumer consent rules do not cover B2B or other professional calls. The rule protects only consumers, meaning natural persons acting outside their trade or business, so calls to businesses are outside its scope. However, if you use a business contact’s personal data, GDPR information and opt-out duties still apply.
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On the BLOCTEL list, a call is allowed if the consumer gave prior express consent. That consent must be free, specific, informed, and unambiguous, and the consumer must be able to withdraw it. The consent can last for at most 1 year, cannot renew automatically, and proof of consent must be kept for 3 years.
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Primary sources
No primary sources are currently listed.