Report Unauthorized Telephone Advertising
The term telephone solicitation, also known as cold call, refers to calls that have the purpose of selling you goods or offering you services without your prior consent to the call. Subscriptions or contracts are often advertised. Often, the callee should be induced to conclude a contract during the phone call. Calls that claim to be solely for market or opinion research may turn into advertising calls if, in the further course of the call, the caller moves on to highlighting certain products/goods or services of certain companies Advertising calls remain prohibited even if the caller prevents his or her phone number from being displayed on your device (so-called number suppression) or causes that a phone number that has not been assigned to it is displayed in your device (so-called setting up phone numbers).
If you receive unauthorised advertising calls, you can file a complaint with the Federal Network Agency. The authority can prosecute the calls as administrative offenses and impose fines or warnings.
What is not unauthorized telephone advertising?
- "Phishing calls": do not count as advertising calls, even if company names or products are mentioned. In the case of "phishing calls", con artists try to obtain sensitive personal data, e.g. your passwords or bank details. This means that the calls are not intended to advertise or sell products, but to obtain information about you. Because such calls are often related to crimes, you should file a criminal complaint with the police for such calls.
- Calls that are exclusively for the purpose of market or opinion research are not telephone solicitations.Calls that have as their object (election) advertising for political parties.
Process flow
You can lodge your complaint online or by post.
If you wish to lodge the complaint online:
- Go to the website of the Federal Network Agency and follow the instructions.
- You should be able to provide the following information about the unauthorized advertising call:
- Your personal details, date and time of the call, if possible the phone number shown on your phone's display
- Name of the caller or company and the products and/or services advertised over the phone.
- Information about whether you have given your consent to be advertised by telephone before the call.
- Information as to whether you have subsequently revoked a consent you have given and have nevertheless continued to be called.
- A description of the content and course of the conversation as accurately as possible.
- The Federal Network Agency examines the facts on which your complaint is based.
- If necessary, you may be considered as a witness in the further course of the fine proceedings.
- You will receive an acknowledgement of receipt of your complaint.
- As a rule, there is no separate notification of the outcome of the fine proceedings
- The Federal Network Agency publishes a list of measures on the Internet, from which, among other things, the fines it imposes can be determined.
If you wish to submit the complaint by post:
- Download and print the form online.
- Fill out the form.
- Send the completed form by post, fax or e-mail to the Federal Network Agency.
- You can also submit the complaint informally by e-mail or in writing by letter or fax.
- The Federal Network Agency examines the facts on which your complaint is based.
- As a matter of principle, you will not receive any separate notification about the outcome of the fine proceedings
- The Federal Network Agency publishes a list of measures on the Internet, from which, among other things, the fines it imposes can be determined.
Requirements
- You are a consumer, i.e. a person who does not pursue a commercial or self-employed professional activity.
- There is unauthorised telephone advertising, i.e. that goods (products) or services were advertised in a telephone conversation with you and you have neither given consent to the advertising company for the call nor have given such consent, but had already revoked it before the advertising call.
Which documents are required?
none
What are the fees?
none
What deadlines do I have to pay attention to?
none
Processing duration
As a rule, the Federal Network Agency is notified of a complaint received by it in a timely manner.
Legal basis
Applications / forms
- Forms: Notification of receipt of unauthorised telephone advertising
- Online procedure possible: yes
- Written form required: no
- Personal appearance required: no (but see below)
Notification of receipt of unauthorised telephone marketing (PDF)
What else should I know?
The complainants may be considered as witnesses in the event of a fine proceeding following the complaint and may be summoned in person for an oral hearing.
Federal Network Agency: Unauthorised telephone advertising
Federal Network Agency: Unauthorised telephone advertising - Complaints Regulations
Technically approved by
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy
Professionally released on
14.08.2018
Author
The text was automatically translated based on the German content.
