Despite legal restrictions and established ethical codes, many commercial calls are still made outside of the hours prohibited by law. This lack of compliance can be frustrating for consumers, as it interrupts their daily life and violates their right to privacy and rest.
Furthermore, it is crucial to note that the spam or fraudulent calls they do not adhere to established laws and regulations. These calls are often made by unauthorized entities, for malicious or deceptive purposes, and can occur at any time, regardless of time restrictions.
legal hours
The Law for the Defense of Consumers (article 96) establishes specific regulations on the hours in which commercial calls can be made to consumers. Among them are the following points:
ID: When initiating a telephone conversation with a consumer, the businessperson or the person making the call on behalf of the business must clearly and explicitly identify themselves. This ensures that the consumer is aware of who is contacting them.
commercial purpose: Likewise, at the beginning of the conversation, the commercial purpose of the call must be clearly indicated. This implies that the main reason for the communication is to promote products or services for commercial purposes.
restricted hours: Commercial telephone calls are limited by established hours. It is forbidden to make these calls before 9 a.m. or after 9 p.m. at night. In addition, they cannot be made in days festive o weekends. These restrictions seek to protect the rest and privacy of consumers.
In addition to legal regulations, some telephone companies have established a ethical code for themselves. In the year 2022, the main companies signed an agreement that came into force. Under this agreement, they will only make business calls on two specific sections during the day: from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., and then from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. This not only meets the legal requirements, but also adds a one-hour exception, from 3 to 4 PM. During that period, these companies will not make commercial calls.
Within the code of ethics of the telephone companies, additional restrictions are established regarding the attempts to contact the client and the frequency of commercial calls. The companies undertake to carry out a maximum of three attempts of contact with the client within a period of one month. In addition, in the event that the client does not accept the commercial offer raised during the communication, the commitment is established not to call the client again. in the next three months. This ensures that the client is not contacted in a persistent or harassing manner, respecting the client’s decision not to accept the offer at that time.
And if they call me?
All companies are obliged to comply with the schedule established by law. However, in the event that you receive a commercial call outside of the mentioned hours, you have the right to take action in this regard.
When a company calls you after hours, they are breaking the law. Therefore, you can not only file a complaint directly to the company that contacted you, but you also have the right to file a formal claim before the consumer authorities. You can even file a complaint with the Spanish Data Protection Agency.
Normally these calls are isolated incidents. However, if business calls become constant, you can make a report to the Police, who will take action on it. In some cases, the continued receipt of unauthorized calls, especially if they occur outside of established legal hours, could be considered harassment.
If you just want to avoid receiving commercial calls in general, even during permitted hours, you have several options. You can ask companies to remove your phone number of their databases for commercial purposes. Additionally, you can sign up for the Robinson List, a database that provides businesses with a list of phone numbers they should not call for business purposes.
