Ombudsman seeks to restrict unsolicited phone sales

Telecom sales calls are governed by different rules from other phone sales, and the consumer ombudsman says the current system is not working effectively, Yle reports. The ombudsman has proposed changing the law so that phone sales would be allowed only when consumers request them.

Telecommunications services are excluded from the phone-sales rules in the Consumer Protection Act because they are regulated by a separate law. The Competition and Consumer Authority says operators interpret the current rules to mean they can provide a required contract summary during the sales call. Consumers may not notice or retrieve the summary from their email during the call, said Joonas Norr, a senior specialist at the authority’s enforcement unit.

Operators may market phone subscriptions by telephone only to their own customers, unless a customer contacts the operator first. Mobile broadband can be marketed to all customers. The proposed change would also prohibit unsolicited calls, known in the industry as cold calls.

Complaints to the Competition and Consumer Authority about telecom operators’ sales practices have risen sharply over the past two years. Inquiries about Elisa rose from 245 in 2024 to 534 in 2025, said Mika Saastamoinen, a senior specialist at the authority. The trend was similar for other operators, with a few exceptions. A European Commission survey suggests that complaints received by authorities represent only a small share of consumer problems: about 8 percent of consumers contact consumer authorities when they encounter an issue.

Older people can be particularly vulnerable when they lack the technical knowledge to assess what services they need and place considerable trust in salespeople’s recommendations, Saastamoinen said. His study, published in the spring and based on 500 consumer contacts to the authority, examined sales practices targeting older people.

Operators have different policies on sales calls to older customers. Telia does not make sales calls to people over 70, while Elisa does not call customers over 75. DNA has no specific age limit but instructs staff not to call its oldest customers.

Concerns about sales practices are not limited to deals with older people. Norr said some consumers may not realise they have entered into a contract, including cases where someone thought they were receiving an offer at a sales stand in a shopping centre. The authority has also found that consumers may accept recommendations without fully understanding the services or identifying their actual needs.

The consumer ombudsman says customers generally get the best prices only by comparing offers. Older and loyal customers can end up paying more.