Unsolicited telemarketing calls remain very common, despite stricter regulations, and are generally considered annoying by those affected. Though complete protection against unwanted telemarketing is impossible, certain measures can nevertheless help to reduce interference to a minimum.
Providers are obliged to offer their customers a means against unfair and thus illegal advertising calls. As a rule, this should be a filter that customers can activate themselves, if the provider has not already activated it by default. Providers must inform their customers about this possibility and about the advantages and also, in particular, any disadvantages (such as mistakenly blocking a caller). It must be possible to activate and deactivate the filter at any time and free of charge.
Please note that the filters can only provide a certain degree of protection against unsolicited telemarketing calls and that such nuisance calls will therefore not disappear completely. In particular, the fact that a telephone number can be technically faked or manipulated relatively easily (known as ‘spoofing’) makes it more difficult to fight against unfair advertising calls.
Similarly, not every provider has the same options available to them, and the filters available may differ from one provider to another. Please contact your provider to find out how their filter works and how to activate it.
The information sheet by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) provides useful advice and explains how you can combat unsolicited telemarketing calls.
Last modification 02.07.2021
