The Netherlands tightens telemarketing rules: consent becomes the new standard

What is changing and why it matters now

Under the current Dutch telemarketing regime, companies may contact existing or former customers by phone about similar products or services without first obtaining explicit consent (the “customer relationship" or “soft opt-in” exception). That exception will disappear for telemarketing calls from 1 July 2026. Going forward, organisations across all sectors must obtain prior explicit consent for unsolicited marketing calls and be able to demonstrate that valid consent was collected. However, the customer-relationship exception will continue to apply for other forms of direct marketing outreach to existing customers, such as marketing emails.

Consent must meet the GDPR standard: consent must be freely given, specific, informed, and actively indicated. Bundled consent, pre-ticked boxes, and permissions buried in general terms and conditions will not meet the bar. Both the Authority for Consumers and Markets and the Data Protection Authority can require companies to produce evidence of valid consent, such as logs and audit trails. The ACM has historically taken an active enforcement approach in the marketing compliance space, and increased supervisory scrutiny after 1 July 2026 is expected.

This is not just about traditional sales calls

The reform is not limited to sales campaigns. The new rules may also affect routine customer service, operational or transactional calls where commercial elements are introduced during the interaction. For example:

• a cancellation confirmation call that shifts into a retention discussion offering discounts or incentives.
• a customer satisfaction survey or service call that is also used to upsell other products and services.
• a former customer feedback call to understand what the company could have done better that moves towards a winback conversation.

These service or operational calls may contain commercial elements that shift the conversation from operational/service-based to marketing-based, requiring consent. The Dutch supervisory authorities will look at the substance of the call, not the label on the script. If the real aim is commercial, the operational framing will not hold. To limit risks, companies are advised to limit commercial elements as much as possible and, where appropriate, ask consumers whether they would like to be contacted about commercial offers at a later stage.

Key steps to take now

We recommend companies start preparing now, particularly where consent infrastructure or customer contact operations are decentralised or outsourced. Key action points include:

• Review customer-facing call practices, identify commercial elements (e.g. retention, winback, upsell), and assess which calls require consent or updated approaches.
• Update user flows and digital onboarding to include a clearly worded and unticked opt-in checkbox for telemarketing, separate from other consents (e.g. separate from acceptance of Terms & Conditions).
• Consider adding consent preference options into existing customer touchpoints, such as app settings, account portals, service confirmation emails, and cancellation flows.
• Reassess call scripts and operational guidance to limit commercial elements in transactional or service calls.
• Provide guidance and training to consumer-facing teams that have transactional, service, or marketing conversations with consumers.
• Establish a consent audit trail: consent must be timestamped, linked to the individual, and retained for five years for proof purposes.
• Set a consent validity period (e.g., 1 year) and implement re-confirmation flows before consent lapses.
• Prepare legitimate interest assessments for any risk-based approaches, particularly where commercial elements are embedded in transactional or service calls.

There is still time to get this right. Companies are advised to act now to start reviewing their customer outreach approach and building a consent database for existing and future customers. Organisations that treat consent as part of a broader customer trust strategy, rather than a formalistic checkbox exercise, are best positioned going forward.

If you would like to discuss what these changes mean for your organisation's customer engagement approach, consent framework, or call practices, please feel free to reach out.

Authored by Chantal van Dam.