News

As of July 1st the rules for telemarketing have been changed.  Organisations (including charities) may no longer make unsolicited calls to consumers, sole traders, general partnerships, limited partnerships and other unincorporated businesses.

The main rule is that organisations may only call people who have given their permission. This permission is required for telephone calls made for commercial, charitable or idealistic purposes. Consent must meet the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). For example, consent may not have been obtained under pressure and it must be easy for someone to withdraw consent.

There are a few exceptions to the permission:

Persons with whom the organization has a customer relationship do not have to be asked for permission. A customer relationship exists if a person purchases a product or service and leaves a telephone number. For charities, a customer relationship exists when a natural person makes a donation, attends an event or does voluntary work. The organization must have informed this customer about the telemarketing calls and offered him/her an opt-out possibility. This customer may be called about similar products or services for a maximum of three years after the purchase or the end of the contract.

Permission is also not required for telephone contact in which only information is provided and no product, service or charity is recommended/offert (no sales call). For example, telephone contact about the delivery time or a repair.

Finally, with every phone call you must again offer the right to object and thus give the called person the option of not being called again.

If you want to know if your organization complies with the new telemarketing rules, please contact us.