Syma Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) acquired by Altice—the parent company of SFR—has been fined 1,101,228 euros by the Paris departmental directorate for the protection of the population (DDPP) for breaching telephone canvassing regulations. This penalty, issued as an administrative sanction rather than a court decision, follows an investigation by the Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF). The fine was imposed due to three violations of the Consumer Code, which outlines rules for fair business practices and consumer protection. The first violation involved Syma Mobile failing to ensure that its customer contact lists were compliant with the Bloctel system. Bloctel was a centralized register that allowed consumers to opt out of receiving unsolicited phone calls. The second violation was that some individuals who had registered on Bloctel still received calls. The third was that some consumers were contacted more than four times over a 30-day period, which exceeded the legal limit for unsolicited calls. The Bloctel system officially ended on August 11, 2026, and was replaced by a new legal framework that prohibits unsolicited telephone canvassing by default. Under the new rules, companies must obtain explicit consent from consumers before making calls to offer products or services. Exceptions exist for ongoing contracts or for the sale of newspapers, periodicals, and magazines. Additionally, calls are restricted to specific hours and frequencies, and no professional may make more than four calls or attempts to the same consumer within a 30-day period. Although Bloctel has been replaced, the DGCCRF reports that telephone canvassing is still common. Since August 11, 2026, the agency has received 26,000 complaints through its official platform, SignalConso, compared to 64,000 reports during the first eight months of 2026. Other companies have also faced penalties for non-compliance. For example, Neovia Environnement was fined 801,020 euros for telephone canvassing in the energy renovation sector, while Le Betef was fined 92,107 euros for abusive calling practices. Penalties for violating the new rules remain substantial, with fines up to 75,000 euros for individuals and 375,000 euros for legal entities per infraction.