Brazil Sets 15-Day Call Bans to Curb Phone Scams

BRAZIL · TELECOMS

Brazil has ordered phone carriers to verify where calls come from and to cut off lines that flood customers with robocalls. The provisional measure took effect on Tuesday, 13 October, when it appeared in the official gazette.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has signed a provisional measure that forces phone carriers to authenticate calls on their networks. Measure 1,396, dated 9 October, was published in the Diário Oficial da União, Brazil’s official gazette, on Tuesday, 13 October.

The rules require carriers to block unverified calls and cut off lines that blast out thousands of short calls a day. For US readers, the approach mirrors the caller ID authentication system, known as STIR/SHAKEN, that US regulators require of American carriers.

How the Call Authentication Chain Works

Under the measure, the carrier where a call starts must authenticate it, and any transit network must preserve that authentication. The carrier that delivers the call must then verify the authentication before passing it on.

Unauthenticated calls will be blocked at the delivery stage, with exceptions set by Anatel, the national telecoms regulator. Carriers must also block calls and messages that use access codes outside Anatel’s rules.

When a verified call comes from a company, the recipient’s carrier must display its registered business name and any logo. The text says the aim is to fight fraud and the abusive use of phone networks.

A 15-Day Block for Mass Callers

The measure’s most direct tool targets operations that flood Brazilian phones with short or silent calls. A user can lose the ability to make calls for 15 days if two conditions are met on the same day.

First, the user must place more than 1,000 calls from a single line, or more than 10,000 across all of its lines. Second, short calls must make up at least 85% of the total.

Short calls are those not completed, those sent to voicemail and completed calls of six seconds or less. Anatel can change these thresholds, but only through a reasoned decision that widens consumer protection.

Public bodies are exempt, as are health, public security and civil defence services acting within their duties. Anatel will regulate how abusive use is measured, notified, blocked and reviewed.

A National Database of Phone Numbers

The measure also creates a central database of phone numbers, supervised by Anatel. It will list who holds each number and, for companies, their business name, tax registration number and logo.

Carriers must keep the records up to date and will pay for the system. They may pass costs on to companies that originate calls, under terms Anatel will define.

Deadlines Set by the Measure

Anatel has 60 days from publication to issue the detailed rules. The per-line call limit and the block on non-compliant access codes become enforceable after 30 days.

Authentication, the blocking of unverified calls, business caller ID and the database apply only once Anatel’s rules take effect. The regulator will also set the implementation deadlines for carriers.

Carriers that fail to comply face the penalties of Brazil’s General Telecommunications Law of 1997. Agência Brasil, the public news agency, and the news site Poder360 both reported the measure from the gazette on Tuesday.

What It Means for US Readers

US companies that call customers in Brazil from Brazilian numbers will need them in the new database to display their names. Unverified traffic risks being blocked once Anatel’s rules apply.

TIM Brasil and Telefônica Brasil, which runs the Vivo brand, have shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Both face new compliance and database costs, although the measure gives no estimate.

American travellers and residents using Brazilian phone numbers could see fewer scam calls once the system runs. The model is familiar in the United States, where carriers authenticate caller ID under Federal Communications Commission rules.

What Is Not Known

The measure gives no figures on how many scam calls or robocalls Brazilians receive, and none were published alongside it. It is also unclear how many lines would meet the 15-day blocking criteria.

Anatel has not yet said which calls will be exempt from blocking or how fast carriers must implement authentication. No public response from the carriers appeared in the reports reviewed on Tuesday.

What Comes Next

A provisional measure takes effect immediately but lapses unless Congress approves it within 60 days, extendable once by another 60. Lawmakers can amend the text, which arrived 12 days before the 25 October presidential runoff.

Counted from Tuesday’s publication, Anatel’s 60-day deadline points to rules by mid-December. The 30-day limits would become enforceable in mid-November.

Frequently Asked Questions

What did Brazil’s new measure on phone calls do?

It requires carriers to authenticate calls and to block unverified calls and abusive mass callers. It also creates a national database of phone numbers and their holders.

Who can be blocked for 15 days?

A user placing more than 1,000 calls a day from one line, or 10,000 across all lines, can be blocked. At least 85% of those calls must also be short, meaning unanswered, sent to voicemail or six seconds or less.

When do the new rules apply?

The measure took effect on 13 October, but most obligations depend on rules Anatel must issue within 60 days. The per-line call limit becomes enforceable after 30 days.

Is this a permanent law?

Not yet, because Congress must approve a provisional measure for it to become permanent law. If lawmakers do not act within the constitutional deadline, it lapses.

Does the measure single out callers from abroad?

No, the text applies to Brazilian carriers that use public phone numbers and does not mention foreign callers. Anatel’s rules will decide which calls are exempt from blocking.

Sources: Presidência da República, Medida Provisória 1.396 of 9 October 2026 (Diário Oficial da União, 13 October 2026); Agência Brasil; Poder360 (all accessed 13 October 2026).