From Tuesday 19 August stop to national telemarketing numbers

As of next Tuesday, 19 August, the rules for telemarketing will change: calls using fake national numbers will be blocked, according to the new rules dictated by the Telecommunications Authority.

There will (or should) be no more 'wild calls' at all hours of the day and night. In fact, Agcom's resolution provides that national operators receiving calls delivered by foreign operators will be obliged to block calls to Italian landline numbers and calls to Italian mobile numbers in Italy, unless the user is actually roaming abroad. Measures that will be enforced in two steps: the first on 19 August, and will concern only the blocking of calls from abroad with Italian landline numbers; the second, on 19 November, will concern the blocking of calls with Italian mobile numbers. For those who do not comply, fines of up to EUR 1 million.

The new rules on telemarketing will not stop the phenomenon of commercial phone calls, states Codacons categorically, sceptical about the real effectiveness of the measures introduced by Agcom. The telemarketing sector generates a €3 billion annual turnover in Italy, with 2,035 active call centres and almost 80,000 employees, Codacons analyses. Alongside the legal operators, however, there is a flood of call centres located abroad that operate in total anarchy, violating sector regulations and citizens' privacy.