AI Cold Calling Laws in Switzerland

In Switzerland, an AI agent may only make marketing calls to people and businesses who agreed beforehand. The one exception covers customers who bought from you and got an opt-out when you collected their number. Art. 3 (1)(o) of the Unfair Competition Act (UWG) treats automated calls as mass advertising, and Swiss regulators say a human must lead every advertising call. A human may cold call only numbers listed in a phone directory without an asterisk. Switzerland isn’t in the EU, so the EU AI Act only applies when you call people in the EU. Still, the Swiss data protection regulator says people have a right to know they’re talking to a machine.

This page summarizes the law as of October 2026 to help you plan AI phone calls. It isn’t legal advice. Laws and how regulators apply them change, so check your use case with a lawyer before you start a campaign.

At a glance

Call	To consumers (B2C)	To businesses (B2B)
Inbound service call	Allowed. Disclose the AI and the recording.	Allowed. Disclose the AI and the recording.
Outbound service call	Allowed. Don’t add an offer to the call.	Allowed. Don’t add an offer to the call.
Marketing callback the person asked for	Allowed. The request counts as consent, so keep proof and stick to the topic.	Allowed. The request counts as consent, so keep proof and stick to the topic.
Marketing call by an AI agent to existing customers	Allowed for your own similar products if you got the number in a sale and offered an opt-out then. Offer the opt-out again on every call.	Allowed for your own similar products if you got the number in a sale and offered an opt-out then. Offer the opt-out again on every call.
Cold marketing call by an AI agent	Consent required	Consent required. The rule covers companies too.
Marketing call by a human to existing customers	Allowed for products related to the relationship while it lasts, even with an asterisk. Respect objections.	Allowed for products related to the relationship while it lasts, even with an asterisk. Respect objections.
Cold marketing call by a human	Listed numbers without an asterisk: allowed. Respect objections. Numbers with an asterisk or no directory entry: consent required.	Listed numbers without an asterisk: allowed. Respect objections. Numbers with an asterisk or no directory entry: consent required.

Is AI cold calling legal in Switzerland?

Only with prior consent. Art. 3 (1)(o) UWG makes it unfair to send mass advertising by telecommunications without the customers’ prior consent. Each message must also name the correct sender and point to a free and easy way to refuse more advertising. This rule has applied since April 1, 2007. Automated calls count as mass advertising. The Federal Council’s dispatch defines mass advertising as advertising sent automatically, without significant human effort. The Swiss Fairness Commission looks at the automation, not the number of messages (decision 172/20, summarized by Härting). The Federal Office of Communications (OFCOM, BAKOM in German) says: “Bei Telefonwerbung muss das Gespräch immer von einem Menschen geführt werden” (BAKOM). In English: in phone advertising, a human must always lead the conversation, even when a machine dials the number. The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) says the same in its consumer brochure. Does an AI agent count? No Swiss court or regulator has ruled on conversational AI agents. Your AI agent leads the conversation without a human, so treat its marketing calls as automated calls under Art. 3 (1)(o). A human who presses Dial, listens in, or can take over changes nothing. With prior consent, the UWG allows automated advertising. Without it, an AI marketing call is unfair competition. The law covers businesses. The UWG protects every “customer.” Courts and legal scholars read this as natural and legal persons, B2C and B2B (BGE 149 IV 1, E. 4.3.1, on the directory rule). The Swiss Fairness Commission applies its rules on aggressive distance selling to B2B and B2C alike (Principle C.4).

Cold calls by a human

Since January 1, 2021, a human may cold call only numbers listed in a phone directory without an asterisk (Art. 3 (1)(u) UWG). People and businesses who mark their entry with an asterisk (*) opt out of advertising from companies they don’t do business with. Numbers without a directory entry get the same protection, so many mobile numbers are off limits without consent. Without consent, only a directory entry without an asterisk allows a cold call, so a number you found on a website isn’t enough (Walder Wyss). A number the person gave you to contact them counts as consent (Principle C.4). Two more rules apply to every advertising call by a human:

Show a listed number. Display a number that’s in the phone directory and that you may use (Art. 3 (1)(v) UWG). See Caller ID and calling hours.
Don’t use tainted leads. Relying on information from calls that broke the asterisk or caller ID rules is itself unfair (Art. 3 (1)(w) UWG). This targets companies that buy leads or appointments from call centers.

The directory rule only applies to calls by a human. AI calls need consent anyway, and the asterisk doesn’t change that (Walder Wyss).

Existing customers and callback requests

Existing customers, AI agent. Art. 3 (1)(o) UWG has a customer exception. It covers automated advertising for your own similar products to people whose contact details you got in a sale. You must have told them then how to refuse advertising. The exception needs a completed sale (BGE 149 IV 1, E. 4.3.2). Name your company and offer the opt-out on every call. Since regulators say a human must lead advertising calls, consent is the safer basis for AI calls. Existing customers, human. The asterisk doesn’t block calls to people you have a business relationship with (Art. 3 (1)(u) UWG). An inquiry or a request for a quote can start that relationship. The relationship must still exist when you call, and you may only advertise related products. In 2022, the Federal Supreme Court upheld a conviction for a call seven years after a customer’s last order. It cited a range of one to five years from legal writing, depending on the product (BGE 149 IV 1, E. 4.3.2). Each company in a group needs its own customer relationship, so keep customer lists apart (6B_978/2020, E. 3.3.2). Callback requests. A person who asks for a callback has consented to that call. The rule on mass advertising also excludes content the person requested. Collect requests through your own channels, such as a landing page for your ads. Say in the form that an AI agent will call, and stick to the topic the person asked about. Service calls. The UWG rules on calls only cover advertising. Appointment reminders, order and support follow-ups, and debt collection don’t need consent, as long as they don’t promote anything. An extra sales offer turns a service call into a marketing call.

Do-not-call register: The asterisk in the phone directory

Switzerland has no separate do-not-call list. The asterisk in the phone directory does the same job.


Name	Asterisk (*) in the phone directory, called “Sterneintrag” in German (SECO)
Legal basis	Art. 3 (1)(u) UWG, Art. 11 and Art. 88 of the Telecommunications Services Ordinance (FDV)
Run by	Phone providers, who add the asterisk on request and pass it to the directories
Covers	People and businesses. Numbers without a directory entry count as opted out.
Access	Check the providers’ directories before each call (BGE 149 IV 1, E. 1.1). The call center association CallNet.ch also licenses a phone block list built from asterisk entries (SDV).
Exceptions	Consent and an existing business relationship

The Robinson list of the Swiss Dialogue Marketing Association (SDV) only covers addressed mail and door-to-door sales, not calls. The asterisk only matters for calls by a human, because AI calls need consent anyway. Keep your own block list of everyone who objects, and check it before every call.

Requirement	What it means for you
Before the first call	Consent must exist before the call. Agreeing at the start of the call or simply staying on the line doesn’t count (Walder Wyss). Collect it through forms, contracts, or inbound contacts.
Specific and informed	Name your company, the topic, and that an AI agent may call. Under the Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP, DSG in German), consent is only valid for specific processing after adequate information (Art. 6 (6) FADP).
Form	Consent doesn’t have to be explicit, so a checkbox works. It must make clear which provider’s advertising and which topics it covers (Walder Wyss).
Provable	Keep the consent text, form version, timestamp, and phone number, so you can prove consent in a dispute.
Revocable	People can object at any time. Using someone’s data against their express objection infringes their personality rights under the FADP (Art. 30 (2)(b)).

Purchased leads. Using information from calls that broke the asterisk or caller ID rules is a criminal offense for you as well (Art. 3 (1)(w) UWG). Accepting the risk is enough, so oblige lead vendors and call centers to follow the UWG. Ask them for the source of each lead and the date of first contact, and end the contract after repeated breaches (Walder Wyss). Retention. No law sets an expiry date or retention period for consent. Prosecutors can pursue UWG offenses for 10 years (Art. 97 (1)(c) StGB). The FADP requires you to delete data you no longer need (Art. 6 (4)). Keep evidence while you rely on the consent and for as long as you may need to defend a complaint. Before your first campaign, botBrains asks for your consent evidence. See before you start outbound campaigns.

Tell callers they’re talking to an AI

Switzerland has no AI law. On February 12, 2025, the Federal Council decided to ratify the Council of Europe’s AI Convention and to adapt Swiss law (Federal Council). Switzerland signed the convention on March 27, 2025. The Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) is preparing a draft for consultation, due by the end of 2026 (FOJ). We found no published draft as of October 2026. Calls to the EU. If you call people in the EU, the EU AI Act applies to you even from Switzerland, because your AI agent’s output reaches people in the EU (Art. 2(1)(c)). Article 50 then requires AI disclosure since August 2, 2026. The calling rules of the country you call apply too, see the country pages. Swiss law already makes disclosure the safe choice:

Rule	What it requires	Applies to
FADP transparency (Art. 6, Art. 19)	The Federal Data Protection and Information Commissioner (FDPIC) says people have a right to know whether they’re talking to a machine (FDPIC).	Every call that uses personal data
Art. 21 FADP	Tell people about a decision based only on automated processing that has legal effects or significantly affects them. On request, let them state their view and have a human review it.	AI agents that decide, for example by rejecting an application. Not for decisions that grant a contract request, or with explicit consent.
Art. 3 (1)(o) UWG	Name the correct sender and offer a free way to refuse more advertising	Automated marketing calls
Art. 3 (1)(b) UWG	No false or misleading statements about yourself or your business	Every marketing call
Fairness Commission, Principle C.2	Your identity and contact details	Distance selling

An AI agent that claims to be human risks a misleading statement under Art. 3 (1)(b) UWG. We found no Swiss decision on this. If your AI agent uses a cloned voice of a real person, the FDPIC says listeners must always be able to tell. Use the language of the person you call. Recommended introduction for outbound marketing calls. Replace [Thema], [sujet], or [argomento] with the topic the person agreed to:

German

Guten Tag, hier ist {agent_name} von {project_name}. Ich bin eine KI. Ich rufe an, weil Sie einem Anruf zu [Thema] zugestimmt haben. Unser Gespräch wird aufgezeichnet. Drücken Sie jederzeit die Sterntaste, um dem zu widersprechen. Wenn Sie keine Anrufe mehr von uns wünschen, sagen Sie es mir einfach.

French

Bonjour, ici {agent_name} de {project_name}. Je suis une intelligence artificielle. Je vous appelle parce que vous avez accepté de recevoir un appel au sujet de [sujet]. Cet appel est enregistré. Appuyez à tout moment sur la touche étoile pour vous y opposer. Si vous ne souhaitez plus recevoir d'appels de notre part, dites-le-moi simplement.

Italian

Buongiorno, sono {agent_name} di {project_name}. Sono un'intelligenza artificiale. La chiamo perché ha accettato di ricevere una chiamata su [argomento]. La chiamata viene registrata. Prema in qualsiasi momento il tasto asterisco per opporsi. Se non desidera più ricevere chiamate da noi, me lo dica semplicemente.

For inbound calls:

German

Guten Tag, hier ist {agent_name} von {project_name}. Ich bin eine KI. Unser Gespräch wird aufgezeichnet. Drücken Sie jederzeit die Sterntaste, um dem zu widersprechen. Wie kann ich Ihnen helfen?

French

Bonjour, ici {agent_name} de {project_name}. Je suis une intelligence artificielle. Cet appel est enregistré. Appuyez à tout moment sur la touche étoile pour vous y opposer. Comment puis-je vous aider ?

Italian

Buongiorno, sono {agent_name} di {project_name}. Sono un'intelligenza artificiale. La chiamata viene registrata. Prema in qualsiasi momento il tasto asterisco per opporsi. Come posso aiutarla?

Edit the text under Introductions. Use guidance to tell the agent how to handle “don’t call me again,” and a Unitool to write the objection to your CRM.

Call recording

Criminal law. Recording a non-public conversation you take part in without the consent of the other participants is a crime (Art. 179ter StGB). Third parties need the consent of everyone (Art. 179bis). Calls about orders, contracts, reservations, and similar transactions are an exception, but you may use those recordings only as evidence (Art. 179quinquies). Tell callers first. The FDPIC says to get consent before you record, so that the person can object. Using recordings for training or to check sales conduct always requires telling people beforehand (FDPIC). The default botBrains introduction does this. Pressing the star key stops the recording and discards it, while the transcript stays. Data protection. The FADP applies to recordings and transcripts. Tell callers who you are, why you process their data, and which countries receive it (Art. 19 FADP). botBrains stores recordings, transcripts, and call data in the EU, and Switzerland recognizes EU countries as having adequate data protection (Annex 1 of the Data Protection Ordinance). Voice as biometric data. A voice only becomes sensitive data when you process it to uniquely identify someone (Art. 5 (c)(4) FADP). Recording for quality or transcripts doesn’t fall under it.

Caller ID and calling hours

Show a listed number. Advertising calls must display a number that’s listed in the phone directory and that you may use (Art. 3 (1)(v) UWG). This also rules out hidden numbers. A call center may show its client’s number with the client’s permission (Walder Wyss). Phone providers only pass on other numbers when you prove your right to use them (Art. 26a FDV). The caller sees your botBrains number. Ask botBrains for a Swiss number, and make sure it has a directory entry under your company name before marketing calls. Anti-spoofing. Transit providers must mark calls from abroad that show a Swiss number. The receiving provider can then remove the number or block the call. This applies to landline numbers since January 1, 2026, and to mobile numbers since July 1, 2026 (BAKOM). Test that your number shows before a campaign. Call filters. Swiss providers must protect their customers from unfair advertising calls and block customers who make them (Art. 83 FDV). Calls that break the UWG can end up in these filters. Calling hours. We found no statutory calling hours. Aggressive sales methods are unfair (Art. 3 (1)(h) UWG), and misusing a phone line to harass someone is a crime (Art. 179septies StGB). botBrains doesn’t enforce calling hours, so plan timing and frequency yourself.

Sector rules

Sector	Rule	Source
Health insurance, basic and supplementary	Prohibited since September 1, 2024 for insurers and their brokers under the Health Insurance Supervision Act (KVAG) and the Insurance Supervision Act (VAG). No calls to people who were never insured with the insurer or not in the last 36 months, unless they asked for the call or someone they know referred them.	Art. 19b and Art. 54 KVAG, Art. 31a and Art. 86 VAG, ordinance, Federal Office of Public Health
Consumer credit	Depends. The Consumer Credit Act (KKG) bans aggressive advertising for consumer credit, and an industry agreement defines what counts as aggressive. Check it before you call about loans.	Art. 36a and 36b KKG
Sales to consumers by phone	Consumers can withdraw within 14 days from contracts for goods and services over CHF 100. Tell them about this right in text form. The right doesn’t apply when the consumer explicitly asked for the negotiations.	Art. 40a to 40f OR
Financial services	The Financial Services Act (FinSA) has no calling rule. Client advisers of foreign providers must be in an adviser register before they serve clients in Switzerland.	Art. 28 FinSA

We found no calling rules specific to energy. The health insurance ban applies to AI agents too, on top of the consent rule for automated calls.

Fines and enforcement

Breach	Authority	Maximum
Unlawful advertising calls: automated without consent, despite an asterisk, or without a listed number. Also using tainted leads.	Cantonal prosecutors, on complaint by the person called or SECO	Prison of up to three years or a monetary penalty (Art. 23 UWG). In minor cases, the company pays a fine of up to CHF 5,000 instead (Art. 26 UWG, Art. 7 VStrR).
Phone numbers used for these calls	Prosecutors and courts	Revocation or blocking of the number (Art. 26a UWG)
Unfair competition, civil claims	Civil courts, on suits by customers, competitors, associations, or the Confederation	Injunction, damages, and surrender of profits (Art. 9 and Art. 10 UWG)
Recording without consent	Cantonal prosecutors, on complaint	Prison of up to one year or a monetary penalty (Art. 179ter StGB)
Missing information duties under the FADP	Cantonal prosecutors, on complaint	Fine of up to CHF 250,000 for the responsible person (Art. 60 FADP), or up to CHF 50,000 for the company in minor cases (Art. 64)
Health insurance cold calls	Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA)	Fine of up to CHF 100,000 (Art. 54 KVAG, Art. 86 VAG)
AI disclosure on calls to the EU	EU national authorities	EUR 15 million or 3% of worldwide turnover (AI Act Art. 99(4))

Prosecutors only pursue UWG offenses on complaint. SECO collects complaints and files criminal complaints or civil suits when a case affects many people. It can’t act on single cases (SECO). In 2025, SECO received 5,827 complaints about advertising calls to unlisted numbers and 3,186 about calls despite an asterisk. That year, it counted three penalty orders or judgments for unlawful advertising calls (SECO statistics). Recent cases: In 2022, the Federal Supreme Court upheld the conviction of a telemarketing company’s chairman for calls despite an asterisk (6B_978/2020, published as BGE 149 IV 1). Agents had used one group company’s customer list to sell for another, and had called a customer seven years after her last order. The lower court imposed no penalty because the fault was slight. In 2021, the Aargau High Court upheld convictions after a SECO complaint against Geminis Marketing and fined one of its principals CHF 216,000 (Aargauer Zeitung). We found no Swiss case on AI or automated calls.

Sources

Unfair Competition Act (UWG): Art. 3, Art. 9, Art. 10, Art. 23, Art. 26, Art. 26a
Federal Act on Data Protection (FADP): Art. 5, Art. 6, Art. 19, Art. 21, Art. 30, Art. 60, Art. 64; Data Protection Ordinance, Annex 1
Criminal Code (StGB): Art. 97, Art. 179bis, Art. 179ter, Art. 179quinquies, Art. 179septies
Telecommunications Act (FMG): Art. 45a; Telecommunications Services Ordinance (FDV): Art. 11, Art. 26a, Art. 83, Art. 88
Health Insurance Supervision Act (KVAG): Art. 19b, Art. 54; Insurance Supervision Act (VAG): Art. 31a, Art. 86; Ordinance on insurance brokers
Consumer Credit Act (KKG): Art. 36a; Code of Obligations (OR): Art. 40b; Financial Services Act (FinSA): Art. 28; Administrative Criminal Law Act (VStrR): Art. 7
Federal Supreme Court: BGE 149 IV 1, full judgment 6B_978/2020
SECO: unsolicited advertising calls, brochure, 2025 statistics
BAKOM: mass advertising, caller identification
FDPIC: data protection law applies to AI, recording conversations
Federal Council and FOJ: Council of Europe AI Convention, AI regulation
FOPH: cold calls by insurance brokers
Swiss Fairness Commission: principles, January 2025; Härting: decision 172/20
SDV: Robinson list and phone block list
Walder Wyss: revised telemarketing law, sic! 11/2021
Aargauer Zeitung: Geminis Marketing appeal
EU AI Act: Art. 2, Art. 50, Art. 99

Next steps

Phone integration

Set up your phone line, introductions, and outbound calls.

Calling laws by country

Compare consent rules for AI calls across the EU, Switzerland, the UK, and the US.

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AI Cold Calling Laws in Switzerland

At a glance

Is AI cold calling legal in Switzerland?

Cold calls by a human

Existing customers and callback requests

Do-not-call register: The asterisk in the phone directory

Tell callers they’re talking to an AI

Call recording

Caller ID and calling hours

Sector rules

Fines and enforcement

Sources

Next steps

Phone integration

Calling laws by country

​At a glance

​Is AI cold calling legal in Switzerland?

​Cold calls by a human

​Existing customers and callback requests

​Do-not-call register: The asterisk in the phone directory

​Consent for AI calls

​Tell callers they’re talking to an AI

​Call recording

​Caller ID and calling hours

​Sector rules

​Fines and enforcement

​Sources

​Next steps

Phone integration

Calling laws by country

At a glance

Is AI cold calling legal in Switzerland?

Cold calls by a human

Existing customers and callback requests

Do-not-call register: The asterisk in the phone directory

Consent for AI calls

Tell callers they’re talking to an AI

Call recording

Caller ID and calling hours

Sector rules

Fines and enforcement

Sources

Next steps