The current Dutch Telecommunications Act (Telecommunicatiewet) operates on the basic principle that direct marketing messages and telemarketing require a recipient’s prior consent. This consent requirement applies to telemarketing when a call is made to a natural person (if the call is directed at that person). Until 1 July 2026, an important exception to the consent requirement existed for contact details obtained in the context of the sale of a product or service. Organisations were not subject to a consent requirement in such cases; they were merely obliged to offer an opt-out.
The exception to the consent requirement is maintained for electronic communications (such as email messages) intended for existing customers. However, this exemption no longer applies as of 1 July 2026 for telemarketing targeting natural persons.
Consequently, organisations that want to call their own customers who are natural persons (or equivalent recipients, such as general partnerships or sole proprietorships) with unsolicited direct marketing communications need to obtain consent before being permitted to make such a telephone call under the new rules.
A few exceptions to the new consent requirement apply. For example, charities and non-profit organisations, such as political parties, may still rely on the existing customer exception. The same applies to publishers of daily and weekly newspapers and magazines, and lotteries that donate funds to charitable causes.
