A voice robot calls through a list, is that legal? The answer turns on a single sign: whether the content of the call is advertising. The difference between "yes" and "no" here is worth hundreds of thousands in fines, so let us work through it in detail. For wording tailored to a specific scenario, go to a lawyer: this is a review of the provision, not legal advice.
What the law says
Article 18 of the advertising law No. 38-FZ contains two key parts.
Part 1: advertising over telecommunications networks is allowed only with the subscriber's prior consent. The consent must be obtained in advance, and the burden of proving it lies with the advertising distributor. Silence does not count as consent.
Part 2: it is not allowed to use telecommunications networks to distribute advertising with means of selecting and dialling a subscriber's number without human involvement. Automatic dialling and automatic broadcasting are banned outright.
The second part is harsher than the first. It is not about consent: for an advertising robocall consent plays no role, because the method of distribution itself is prohibited.
The FAS practice on this provision is settled, cases are opened regularly, and the advertiser bears responsibility on a par with the contractor.
What counts as advertising
The definition from the same law: information addressed to an indefinite circle of persons and aimed at drawing attention to a product, promoting it on the market.
The key words are an indefinite circle of persons and promotion. The boundary follows from that.
Scenarios that stay clear of the ban
Order confirmation. "Your order 4412 is ready for shipment, please confirm delivery." The information is addressed to a specific person about a specific transaction. There is no promotion.
Appointment reminder. "You are booked with the doctor tomorrow at 14:00."
Service notifications. A status change, a flight delay, a document ready.
Debt notice. A call under an existing contract.
A service-quality survey. Provided there is no offer to buy anything else inside it.
The common sign: a relationship already exists between you and the subscriber, the call concerns that relationship, and there is no product promotion inside.
Scenarios that fall under the ban
Calling a cold list with a service offer. The classic prohibited case.
A call to an existing client offering a new product. Having a contract does not turn advertising into a service. "You have been approved for a loan on new terms" is advertising.
Promotions and discounts. Even to your own clients, even with their consent to a mailing: the method of distribution itself is banned, whoever the recipient is.
A service call with an advertising ending. "Your order is ready, and also we have 20% off your second purchase" gets the whole call classified under the advertising part.
The last case is the most frequent and arises from the wish to use a ready channel. One phrase at the end of the script moves the whole campaign into the prohibited category.
Separately on the number list
Even a fully service call relies on numbers, and those are personal data. Here 152-FZ applies: you need a lawful basis for processing, and for calls under a contract that basis is the contract itself.
Numbers bought as a list or gathered by scraping give no basis under any scenario.
What else is regulated
Recording a conversation requires notifying the other party at the start of the call. A synthesised voice is worth flagging as machine-generated: there is no direct requirement in the law yet, but it removes part of the complaints and noticeably improves people's attitude to the conversation.
Call times are limited to reasonable hours: FAS practice treats night calls as a standalone violation of consumer rights.
How to build a calling campaign no one can question
- Split the scenarios. Service ones by robot. Advertising ones by a live operator with confirmed consent.
- Clean the script. Not a single offer to buy inside a service call.
- Keep the basis for each number. The contract, the request, the date and text of consent. Store it so you can pull up any single number in a minute.
- Maintain a stop list. A refusal of calls is honoured at once and forever.
- Record the conversations and warn about it in the first phrase.
A service robocall covers most of the tasks people set up automated calling for: confirmations, reminders, statuses. It takes routine off the operators and creates no risks. Selling by robot in Russia is a conversation about fines, and conversion has nothing to do with it.