the Council of State has just canceled the most effective anti-canvassing measure
The Bloctel system is not about to improve: the Council of State has just canceled what is undoubtedly the most effective measure against canvassing: the ban on identifying oneself with deceptive numbers. The Council of State considers that Arcep, which had put in place these measures, acted beyond its field of competence.
Since August 2019, a series of new measures have been limiting the activity of call centers that engage in canvassing. These are mainly due to the how these calls can be identified by users. Call centers that engage in canvassing activity must therefore use either a clear display of their identity, or a number starting with 08 – especially when they receive fewer calls than they do. emit some.
Call centers quickly found themselves forced to stop using geographic (01-05), mobile (06-07) or internet box (09) numbers history of clearly distinguishing their corporate quality. Gold for two trade unions, AFRC (Association Française de Relations Clients) and SP2C (Union of contact center professionals), these measures have too heavy an impact on the sector.r.
Call centers can continue to use numbers starting with 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07 and 09
Users are indeed less likely to drop out when a number starting with 08 is displayed. Lawyers for representatives of the sector recalled that the sector employs 56,000 people in France, and telephone canvassing “Is a perfectly legitimate prospecting channel”. And the Council of State agreed with them. In its decision, the authority considers that Arcep, at the origin of the measures, was not justified in putting them in place.
The Council of State recalls that only the ministers responsible for consumption and the digital economy have this power. The judges also took into account the new obligations weighing on the operators of these centers. The law of July 24, 2020 indeed sets a new framework for canvassing. Telecom operators are now required to monitor their activity and block non-compliant commercial calls whether they come from France or abroad.
“The decision has the merit of clearly delineating the fields of competence between Arcep, responsible for defining the telephone numbering plan and the ministers in charge of consumption and the digital economy who determine which numbers can be used by professionals. when they call consumers ”, explains Maître Géraud Mégret, lawyer for the call center unions before the Council of State cited by the JDD.
Read also: Telephone canvassing – forget Bloctel, some associations want it to be banned!
And to emphasize that “Arcep went much further than what our European neighbors foresee in this area”. As the decision of the Council of State is not subject to appeal, Arcep now has a two month delay to comply. For the consumer, this therefore means the return, to a certain extent, of direct sales calls from telephone numbers which are not clearly identified as those of a business.
Source: JDD
