In a month, on July 1, 2026, a new legislative amendment will come into effect in our country that will further restrict telemarketing. From that date, a comprehensive opt-in will apply: telemarketing calls are only permitted if explicit consent has been given in advance.

 

The legislative amendment is yet another step in the ever-increasing restriction of telemarketing options (see box below). New as of July 1st is that the The opt-in applies to both existing and former customers.

Demonstrable prior consent is always required

In both cases, prior consent is required to contact someone by telephone for commercial purposes. Furthermore, that consent must be confirmed by the consumer through an active action. Strict requirements apply to the latter: therefore, you cannot use the telemarketing call itself to establish that consent.

Clear, complete, and verifiable information about who you are and the nature of your call must also be provided to the consumer immediately at the start of the conversation. Furthermore, a service call or welcome telephone call may not be used (as a cover) to make commercial offers.

Companies that wish to continue with telemarketing after July 1, 2026, must therefore ensure that they have demonstrably documented consent from all prospects they wish to approach before that time.

Despite the ever-increasing restrictions, telemarketing remains a two-headed monster: on the one hand a source of irritation, and on the other an important contact and revenue channel for charities, among others. With the latest legislative amendment, the telemarketing industry managed to secure an exception for charities, charity lotteries, and publishing houses: the opt-in does not apply here.

Consumers' Association: “July 1st is not the end of the road”

The Consumers' Association believes the new rules do not go far enough. “As far as we are concerned, the restrictions taking effect on July 1 are not the end of the road. We want a complete ban on telemarketing. To protect vulnerable people and prevent unsolicited sales calls, a ban is urgently needed,” a spokesperson told Ziptone.

We therefore have a clear position when it comes to telemarketing. We have been advocating for the restriction of telephone sales for years. We regularly conduct research into experiences and share our findings with regulators and politicians.

According to the Consumers' Association, research shows that 77% of consumers want to stop telemarketing. Almost 90% find unsolicited sales calls annoying. And 82% are annoyed by unsolicited phone calls to become a donor to a charity.

New ways

The customer contact sector is therefore looking for new ways to connect with consumers for telemarketing. For many years, cross-selling and upselling during inbound calls, welcome calls, and service calls have been common in customer contact.

Strictly speaking, you could ask for permission during such a service call. If that permission is given during that call (followed by an active action by the customer, such as checking a box in an email message), you can proceed in a second call.

DDMA provides comprehensive information about the new rules. The trade association also organized a last year Interactive information session on, among other things, obtaining the opt-in.

Regulated telemarketing, the history – The rules for telemarketing have been increasingly tightened in recent years and have gradually shifted from opt-out to opt-in. Changing legislation was often preceded by stricter self-regulation.

Much has changed since telemarketing began with cold calling from a phone book. Because telemarketing led to increasing irritation, it was 2001 the so-called Infofilter was introduced, a self-regulatory initiative of the trade association DMSA, a predecessor of DDMA. At the Infofilter Foundation, consumers could register that they no longer wished to be called by telemarketing companies.

In 2004 the right of objection was legally enshrined in the Telecommunications Act. The telemarketing sector itself also introduced the stricter Telemarketing Directive and the Telemarketing Consumer Line (2006).

In 2007 the government noted that despite the Infofilter and other forms of self-regulation, irritation regarding telemarketing persisted. As of October 1 2009 The statutory Do Not Call Register came into effect; Stichting Infofilter was designated as administrator. From that moment on, companies were legally obliged to check their call lists against the register; registered consumers could no longer be contacted unsolicited. In 2014 the written requirement was introduced for the first time via the Civil Code.

In 2018 The privacy framework for telemarketing changed with the introduction of the GDPR; that law stipulates that an organization must be able to demonstrate that someone has given consent.

The DDMA itself carried out on January 1 2020 introduced the Telemarketing Code and the Telemarketing Code of Conduct, which were enforceable from March 1, 2020. The sector itself also introduced provisions regarding the duration of the customer relationship.

In 2021 The opt-out (calling is allowed unless someone objects, or unless someone is an existing customer) has been definitively replaced by an opt-in (calling is not allowed, unless there is an existing customer relationship or you have permission). The telemarketing sector itself added a rule to this: consumers could only be contacted if they were a customer of that company less than three years ago.

All rules are in 2022 evaluated by the cabinet. In 2023 the written requirement has been further tightened.

Since the irritation regarding unwanted telemarketing persisted, further legislative changes have been prepared that will take effect on July 1. 2026 be introduced. As of the date, the exception for existing or former customers will be scrapped – although an exception will still be made for charities, lotteries that donate to charities, and publishers of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines.

(Ziptone/Erik Bouwer)

Customer Experience, Featured