Israel's new call recording law: what Tel Aviv consumers can prepare now

A phone conversation about home internet can become a useful record when you want to check what was agreed. Israel's Consumer Protection Law Amendment 74, published on July 22, 2026, establishes recording and disclosure duties for specified transactions. For Tel Aviv-Yafo residents, one part already matters: a transitional provision requires covered existing recordings to be preserved. The new duty to supply them to consumers starts later.

This is national legislation affecting services purchased for a city home, rather than a municipal benefit requiring resident registration. The general commencement date calculated from the law is March 22, 2027, subject to its postponement mechanism. In October 2026, the distinction is essential: preserving a recording and supplying it under the new deadline are obligations with different starting points.

What already applies to recordings held by a business

The transitional provision addresses recordings held by a business on publication day and calls it recorded and retained between publication and commencement. Covered recordings must continue to be kept in accordance with the statutory retention rules. A recording that must be retained cannot be deleted even at the consumer's request.

Someone trying to locate an earlier conversation can contact the business, identify the call and request its preservation, while also asking for a copy. But a request made now should not be presented as already triggering this amendment's new ten-business-day delivery obligation. The transitional text applies the disclosure rules for existing recordings from commencement, subject to the law's conditions.

Nor does preservation establish that every earlier conversation was recorded or still exists. Ask whether the business holds the particular recording, and retain its reply. The date and the telephone number used may help locate it. A personal note of the call is useful information, but it is not the recording itself.

Which transactions qualify, and how the NIS 750 threshold works

The new duty does not automatically cover every conversation with every shop. The added section 16D combines a transaction category listed in the law's Ninth Schedule with a total price of at least NIS 750. Listed services include telephone, internet, broadcasting and gas supply, alongside continuing repair and maintenance agreements. Other listed categories have their own conditions.

For an ongoing agreement without a fixed term, the calculation uses annual payments. For a fixed-term continuing agreement, it uses payments across the whole term. Payments for additional transactions resulting from the marketing are included. Where the transaction amount is unknown during the call, the law treats it as meeting the threshold. Looking only at one monthly instalment can therefore give the wrong answer.

The goods category also has a distinction: it covers non-food goods involving a marketing approach, excluding an approach made after the consumer asked the business to call back. That exception should not be generalized to every other listed service. The correct sequence is to identify the transaction category, then examine its total price and the circumstances of the call.

The duties scheduled to begin at commencement

For covered transactions, the new arrangement requires businesses to record relevant voice calls between consumers and the business or its representatives, including calls initiated by consumers. At the beginning, the business must explain that the call is recorded and that a copy may be requested under the law. Voice calls to a telephone number through electronic communications are included.

If a transaction is concluded, recordings must be kept for at least two years from the call; if no transaction is concluded, the minimum is six months from the call. The starting point is the conversation, not the date when a consumer remembers to request it. If delivery falls after the retention period ends, the recording must be kept until delivery.

The law sets commencement eight months after publication, producing March 22, 2027. It permits the economy minister, with the Knesset Economic Affairs Committee's approval and subject to specified conditions, to postpone the consumer provisions by periods totalling no more than four months. No postponement decision was located in the sources reviewed for this article. March 22 is the expected statutory date, rather than a guarantee that it cannot change.

When a copy will be due, and whether it will cost money

From commencement, an eligible consumer requesting a recording of a call they participated in, or details of its date, during the retention period is entitled to delivery within ten business days. Under the law's default rule, the first request for that recording or those details during the period is free. A repeat request may carry a charge.

If a recording remains with the business after the required retention period, the law also provides for delivery within ten business days, but permits a fee. This does not require every recording to be kept indefinitely. The minimum retention obligation and the continued existence of a particular copy are separate questions.

The disclosure mechanism also has consequences in civil proceedings. A business that fails to supply material when required may be treated as admitting the consumer's account of the conversation, subject to the court's power to allow that account to be challenged on statutory grounds. This is an evidentiary provision, not an automatic court victory or guaranteed compensation. Its application depends on the circumstances and the court.

Preparing a useful request from your Tel Aviv home

When arranging internet, telephone or gas service, keep the business name, call date, telephone number, service discussed and customer number, if available. Store the written offer, agreement and invoices together. These are practical recordkeeping suggestions, not a claim that the law requires this exact collection of documents with every request.

Specify whether you want the recording, the dates of conversations or both, and keep proof of sending. Ask the business to confirm whether it located the conversation. If someone helps you understand Hebrew, they can also help read the reply, but the amendment does not promise a translated recording or a transcript in another language.

Banking, insurance and other financial transactions have separate arrangements in the amendment. Do not automatically apply all the consumer-service rules above to them. Check the transaction and applicable rules before relying on a deadline. Gathering the details and requesting preservation can start now; recheck the new delivery obligation's commencement date before relying on it.