Brazil implements new rules to block abusive telephone calls

Brazil is implementing stricter measures to combat abusive telephone calls and telemarketing harassment. Anatel has published new regulations, effective November 12, 2026, to identify and block excessive calling activity. Under these rules, telecommunications providers must block the ability to make calls for 15 days if a user exceeds 1,000 daily calls per access or 10,000 total calls across all linked accesses. To qualify as abusive, at least 85% of calls must be short, lasting six seconds or less, or result in unanswered calls and voicemails. These restrictions will apply to all numbers linked to a single CPF or CNPJ, including those of branches and headquarters.

In a separate legislative effort, Federal Deputy Afonso Motta has introduced a bill in the Chamber of Deputies to further restrict telemarketing and debt collection calls. The proposed law would limit contact to a maximum of two attempts per day and six per week per consumer. It also seeks to restrict calling hours to between 8:00 and 20:00, Monday through Friday, prohibiting calls on local holidays. The bill proposes a national blocking registry and requires companies to identify themselves at the start of every call.