In October 2026, the Senate of Chile gave general approval during the second reading stage of the legislative process to the bill against unsolicited commercial communications (the consolidated draft of Boletines N°15.610‑03 and N°16.041‑03). The bill proposes amending the consumer protection law to establish new user authorization rules for advertising calls, SMS, and instant messaging services, with heavy penalties for non-compliant companies. However, the bill has not yet completed the full legislative process and does not currently have legal effect.
The core mandatory requirement of the bill is that companies must obtain users' prior, express, and specific consent before sending advertising and promotional calls, SMS, and instant messages such as WhatsApp. It also regulates the validity period of such consent and grants users the right to opt out of receiving commercial communications at any time. To facilitate identification by users, the bill further requires recognizable sender identification for advertising calls, marketing notifications, and certain debt collection calls. Violators may be fined up to 1,000 Unidades Tributarias Mensuales (UTM), equivalent to more than CLP 72 million. During the legislative debate, senators also noted that the bill should be properly coordinated with existing personal data protection regulations.
It should be noted that only the general vote has been completed at this stage. The bill must still proceed through article-by-article review and amendments, multiple rounds of parliamentary procedures, and presidential enactment. At present, none of the obligations or penalties have formally entered into force.
