The Chamber approves amendments that revolutionize energy telemarketing: void contracts, mandatory identification and reversed burden of proof
The phone rings. Unknown number. You decide to answer, and you hear a voice offering you a contract for electricity or gas. You don’t quite understand what you’re signing up for, and you end up with a supplier you didn’t choose. It’s a common story, all too common. Yet, now, something could really change in this sense.
The X Commission of the Chamber of Deputies has in fact approved a series of amendments to the so-called Dl Bills which, according to Consumerismo No Profit, an association that defends consumer rights, represent “a tsunami across the entire teleselling sector”.
What does the new regulation on telemarketing provide?
The key principle is quite simple: no consent, no contract. Energy companies will be able to contact a consumer by telephone only if the latter has explicitly agreed to receive commercial proposalsor if it is an existing customer who has given the green light. In all other cases, any contract concluded will be legally void.
Then there is a second important element: the reversal of the burden of proof. It will no longer be the consumer who will have to prove that he never gave consent, but the seller who will have to prove that he has obtained it. A reversal that is anything but formal, because it shifts the burden of responsibility onto those who until now had every interest in passing silence off as approval.
Identification and powers of Agcom
The amendments, signed by representatives of Fratelli d’Italia, Lega and Forza Italia, also introduce theobligation of telephone identification: each call must come from a number that uniquely identifies the professional. No more anonymous numbers, no more switchboards hidden behind foreign prefixes or temporary numbers.
What if someone tries to circumvent the rule? Well, Agcom will be able to order the immediate suspension of telephone lines used in violation of the rules. A power of direct intervention, therefore.
It must be said that we have not yet arrived at a real law: these are simply amendments approved in committee, which they will have to complete the parliamentary process. The telemarketing sector, however, is starting to deal with a shrinking picture. For consumers, the direction is the right one.
