Unsolicited telemarketing using consumers’ phone numbers often constitutes infringement of Israeli residents’ privacy. Moreover, it is a real nuisance and has become fertile ground for crimes of fraud of one kind or another. With the goal of combatting these, an amendment to the Israeli Consumer Protection Law has been enacted. This law is also known as the “Do Not Call Me Law.” The purpose of the law is to enable every consumer to opt out of receiving telemarketing calls. The law states that consumers can request to add their phone number to the “Do Not Call” Registry and thus restrict businesses (or any party on their behalf) from contacting them for telemarketing purposes. This registry was recently opened to consumers. Provisions regarding the prohibition of unsolicited telemarketing will be enforced as of January 1, 2023. The law clarifies that “marketing calls” also encompass an offer to consumers to receive a free asset or service.

The provisions of the amendment also apply to businesses already providing services to the customer, when their marketing calls are about engaging in a new transaction.

Businesses seeking to contact consumers via telemarketing based on consumers’ telephone numbers, including through Voice over Internet Protocol networks, calls via WhatsApp or Skype, or any other means of communication based on consumers’ phone numbers, may not contact anyone listed in the “Do Not Call” registry. In order to determine if a consumer has opted out via the registry, businesses can use a recently developed API to perform a quick technological check. Such check is to be conducted no longer than 15 days prior to initiating a telemarketing campaign. They also state that a request by a consumer for inclusion in the registry will take effect 15 days after the registration date.

The law and the regulations prescribe four exceptions when telemarketing is permissible to a person on the Do Not Call Me list, notwithstanding the general prohibition:

1. If the consumer asks the business to call him back.
2. If the business and the consumer are already engaged in an ongoing transaction, the business may contact the consumer with a marketing offer during the period of the existing transaction, and solely in relation to it, including about a change in its terms, but excluding an offer to extend the transaction, unless the consumer has contacted the business at his own initiative and asked to extend the existing transaction period. This provision applies, for example, to different types of monthly subscriptions or to services payable on a monthly basis.
3. If the consumer has given the business explicit and separate written consent, including by electronic means, to telemarketing, provided that such consent: (a) was not obtained by contacting the consumer by telephone. (b) the written consent itself clarifies it does not imply the consumer’s consent to execute any transaction with the business. (c) the consent remains valid for a maximum of one year, unless the consumer withdraws his consent before then. The consumer may extend this consent for a maximum of one additional year, each time.
4. If the consumer contacted the business at his own initiative and gave explicit consent to receive telemarketing calls from the business. Such consent will be valid for one year only, unless the consumer withdraws his consent before then.

In all cases, the business bears the burden of proof with respect to the consumer’s consent. Therefore, businesses must ensure they have appropriate systems to document consumers’ consents.

The law imposes liability on a business telemarketing its product or service, even if a third party is actually the one making the call. Therefore, as part of businesses’ preparations for enforcement of the law, they should ensure they also have appropriate arrangements with their service providers.

The “Do Not Call Me Law” grants the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority the authority to impose fines on businesses for violations of provisions regarding telemarketing to a telephone number listed in the registry, and to issue administrative orders to stop violations.

The law’s implementation raises various practical questions and obligates businesses engaging in telemarketing to prepare accordingly.

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