ACM: oversight aimed at putting an end to unsolicited phone calls

On July 1, new statutory rules regarding telemarketing come into force. These rules stipulate under what conditions businesses are allowed to call consumers, and offer them commercial propositions. From July 1, businesses can only call consumers that have given their consent in advance to such calls, or consumers that either are currently customers or that had been customers until recently. With these new rules, consumers have control over who can call them. The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) enforces compliance with these rules. Businesses that do not comply with these rules and that call consumers without having secured consent from them can expect fines or orders subject to periodic penalty payments. ACM is calling on consumers to file reports if businesses call them without consent after July 1.

Edwin van Houten, Director of ACM’s Consumer Department, explains: “Unsolicited telemarketing calls are a huge problem. These new rules are meant to free consumers from those pesky phone calls. Our contribution is that we will inform consumers about these new rules, and we will also actively take enforcement action. From July 1, we will actively focus on these two tasks. Consumers can help us by filing reports about businesses making unsolicited calls with our consumer information portal ACM ConsuWijzer.”

What will change from July 1?

From July 1, new statutory rules apply to businesses that call consumers or self-employed workers (independent contractors) offering them commercial, non-commercial or charitable propositions. Businesses can only do so if they are able to demonstrate that:

• Consumers have voluntarily and unequivocally given their consent in advance for such calls, or
• Consumers are customers with the business that is calling them with regard to the same type of product, or they had been customers until recently. A business can call consumers up to three years after these consumers ended their relationship with the business.

At any time during a call, consumers can invoke the ‘right to object’. To invoke it, consumers only need to say the following: “Please don’t call me again.” In that case, businesses are not allowed to call again. Businesses that make calls must actively offer this right in each call. As a result, consumers will keep control over the phone calls that they get, and, in each call, they will have the opportunity to withdraw their consent.

ACM conducts oversight

ACM enforces compliance with the new rules. One element of these new rules is that the burden of proof for oversight has been reversed. This means that businesses that make calls must be able to demonstrate to ACM that they were allowed to call, and that they offered the right of withdrawal. ACM will actively inform consumers about the new rules. Consumers can file reports about unsolicited phone calls with ACM ConsuWijzer.

See also

• Telemarketing rules (in Dutch)
• Are other companies allowed to call me to sell me products or services? (in Dutch)