L'équipe Texto SMS Gratuit
1 September 2026 · 12 min read
Introduction: the final bill, the one nobody reads
We spend hours comparing plans. We read reviews, study coverage maps, agonise over two offers a single euro apart. Then, on the day we leave, we sign off with our eyes closed — and three weeks later we discover a closing bill for €47, €68 or €112, without ever understanding where the figure came from.
This is the French market's blind spot. Cancellation is the one moment in the customer cycle when the subscriber is in a weak position: they have already decided to leave, they are in a hurry, and they no longer feel like arguing. Operators know this. The result: a far from negligible share of the sums claimed when a line is closed is simply not owed, or is miscalculated.
This guide sorts it all out. What French law actually allows to be charged in 2026, what amounts to questionable practice, the exact procedure for leaving cleanly, and the free remedies available when your operator digs in. The amounts quoted are those of the legal framework in force — always check the general terms and conditions of your own contract, which can only be more favourable, never less.
Step 0: find out whether you're under contract, and until when
Everything starts here. Cancellation rules are not the same depending on whether your plan is commitment-free or under commitment, and most disputes stem from confusion on this very point.
Three scenarios exist in 2026:
- Commitment-free plan. This covers virtually all offers under €15 a month and the so-called "low cost" brands. You can leave at any time, with no penalty. Only the notice period applies.
- 12-month commitment plan. Now rare in mobile, it survives on certain premium offers or promotions.
- 24-month commitment plan. It almost always exists because a handset was subsidised at sign-up. This is where the exit bill can climb.
To find out where you stand, don't rely on memory. Log in to your customer account: the commitment end date must appear there, and it must also be shown on every monthly bill. That is an obligation under the French Consumer Code, not a commercial courtesy.
A useful habit: screenshot that page before starting any process. In the event of a dispute, a dated screenshot of your customer account counts for more than a phone conversation nobody kept a record of.
What the Chatel Act really changes after month 12
This is the sector's most misunderstood provision. The 2008 Chatel Act, incorporated into the Consumer Code, governs 24-month commitments on electronic communications services.
The principle is as follows: from the 13th month onwards, a subscriber on a 24-month commitment can cancel by paying only one quarter of the monthly payments remaining until the end of the commitment.
A worked example makes the mechanics obvious. You signed up for a €40-a-month plan with a 24-month commitment. You cancel at the end of the 15th month. Nine monthly payments remain.
| Situation | Calculation | Amount owed |
|---|---|---|
| Cancellation in month 6 (before month 13) | 18 monthly payments × €40 | €720 |
| Cancellation in month 15 (after month 13) | (9 × €40) ÷ 4 | €90 |
| Cancellation in month 23 | (1 × €40) ÷ 4 | €10 |
The gap is spectacular, and it explains why it is almost always worth waiting for the 13th month when you're hesitating. Before month 13, the full remaining balance can be claimed — that is legal, and it is precisely the hidden price of the "€1 handset".
Two clarifications that make all the difference in disputes:
- The quarter applies to the monthly payments, not to the price of the handset. Some advisers will invoke a separate "handset balance". On a standard commitment plan, the phone subsidy is already built into the monthly fee; there can be no double billing.
- The mechanism is a matter of public policy. Any contractual clause contradicting it is deemed unwritten.
One caveat, however: offers where the handset is financed by a separate consumer credit agreement (increasingly common) fall outside this framework. The plan is then commitment-free, but the credit runs independently. Cancelling the line does not release you from the instalments on the device. Read the exact nature of the contract before celebrating a "no commitment" label printed in large type.
The legitimate grounds that cancel out the fees
There are situations in which terminating a committed contract incurs no penalty at all, even before the 13th month. The general terms of the four national operators list them, with variations in wording but a common core:
- Moving abroad, with supporting evidence (employment contract, lease, deregistration certificate).
- Loss of employment on a permanent contract (resignation excluded).
- Long-term imprisonment.
- Disability or a health condition making the service unusable.
- Death of the account holder, on production of the certificate.
- Over-indebtedness, with a case accepted by the Banque de France commission.
One ground is often overlooked: prolonged loss of service. If your operator no longer delivers the service it sold — repeated outages, lack of coverage after a mast is changed, a line unusable for several weeks — you can invoke breach of contract. That means building a file: dates, incident tickets, written exchanges. A simple A5 notebook kept day by day, with the time and place of each outage, carries far more weight before a mediator than a hazy recollection.
The fees actually permitted in 2026
Now to the most contested line on closing bills: the notorious termination fees.
They do genuinely exist and they are legal, but they follow a strict rule: they must correspond to real, justified costs borne by the operator to close the service. They cannot be a disguised penalty. In practice, in mobile, they range from around ten to thirty euros depending on the operator, and must be stated in the general terms from the moment you sign up.
Here is how to read a closing bill line by line:
| Line item | Permitted? | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Flat-rate termination fee | Yes, if stated in the T&Cs | The amount stated in the contract |
| Part-month charged pro rata | Yes | That the calculation stops on the disconnection date |
| A full month when you leave on the 3rd | Questionable | Demand pro rata temporis billing |
| Outstanding commitment balance | Yes, if under commitment | One quarter after month 13 |
| Unreturned rented equipment | Yes | Proof of return shipment |
| Subscribed options | Yes, up to disconnection | Options deactivated but still billed |
| Out-of-bundle usage in the final month | Yes | Itemised call breakdown |
The most rewarding item to challenge is almost always the part-month billed in full. Pro rata billing has been the rule since Arcep's work on pricing transparency; an operator that bills 30 days when you used 4 owes you the difference.
The procedure that works: number porting or plain cancellation
There are two ways to leave, and they are not equivalent.
Number porting (the preferred route)
You keep your number and hand the entire process over to your new operator. This is the safest route, because it eliminates the main risk: a period with no line.
- Dial 3179 from the line to be ported (free of charge). A text message sends you your RIO code and your commitment end date.
- Sign up with the new operator, providing the RIO. The RIO is valid for about thirty days.
- The new operator initiates the port. The legal deadline is one working day after the request date, with execution generally set at D+3 or D+4 to allow time for the SIM to be dispatched.
- Porting counts as cancellation. You have no letter to send to your former operator. Writing as well means risking a duplicate process and a premature disconnection.
Plain cancellation (without keeping the number)
If you are giving up the number, you must notify the operator yourself. Registered mail with acknowledgement of receipt remains the only incontestable proof. Many operators now accept an online form or an email: use them if you wish, but back them up with registered mail whenever a financial dispute is likely. A pack of pre-printed registered-mail envelopes and a few stamps kept in a drawer will stop you putting the task off for three weeks — and three weeks means three more monthly payments.
The maximum legal notice period is 10 days from receipt of the request. An operator cannot impose a month's notice on you. If it does, the clause can be challenged.
The trap of the direct debit that keeps going
You have cancelled, the line is disconnected, and the direct debit still goes out the following month. A commonplace situation, and rarely fraudulent: most often it is the closing bill, issued after disconnection.
The reaction to avoid at all costs is cancelling the direct debit mandate on your own initiative. You then put yourself in default, with rejection fees and, eventually, referral to debt collection. The right approach:
- Request a written breakdown of the sum claimed.
- Pay the undisputed portion.
- Challenge the disputed portion in writing, stating the amount.
- If the debit has already been taken and you consider it unwarranted, exercise your right to a SEPA refund within 8 weeks with your bank, without having to give a reason.
Keep a record of everything. A portable document scanner or, more simply, a dated folder in your cloud storage will do; what matters is that every document carries a date and a named contact.
When the operator refuses: the three levels of appeal
The route is clearly marked, free of charge, and works far better than its reputation suggests.
Level 1 — customer service, in writing. A phone call leaves no usable trace. Write, number your request, cite the clause of the general terms or the legal provision you are relying on, and set a 15-day deadline for a reply.
Level 2 — the consumer service department. This is a separate tier from customer service, whose contact details must appear in the general terms. Send registered mail with the full history.
Level 3 — the Médiateur des communications électroniques. Referral is free and online, and possible two months after the first written complaint that failed to produce a satisfactory outcome. The mediator issues an opinion within roughly three months. Member operators follow it in the vast majority of cases.
Alongside these, two bodies are worth knowing:
- Arcep, through its "J'alerte l'Arcep" platform, does not settle individual disputes but logs reports and acts on repeated practices. A report takes five minutes and feeds into the observatories published by the regulator.
- The DGCCRF, which has jurisdiction over misleading commercial practices, particularly where an advertised price differs from the price applied.
Consumer associations — UFC-Que Choisir, CLCV — also publish templates for formal notice letters that can be reused directly. A printed consumer law guide, updated each year, remains handy for checking article references before you write.
Five costly mistakes
Cancelling before signing up elsewhere. You lose your number and end up with no line. Always do it the other way round: sign up first, and let the new operator handle the rest.
Forgetting the add-on services attached to the line. Handset insurance, a music or video subscription "free for 12 months", cloud storage: these contracts do not always die with the plan. Check them one by one.
Neglecting to return equipment. Set-top box, router, Wi-Fi repeater: failure to return them is billed at a premium. Keep the drop-off receipt. If you have to pack equipment, a few padded envelopes and a roll of packing tape will prevent disputes over equipment "received damaged".
Accepting a retention offer without getting it in writing. The adviser offers €5 off for six months to keep you? Insist on written confirmation by email or text. Without a trace, the commitment does not exist.
Leaving an eSIM active in an old device. After porting, delete the old line's profile to avoid billing confusion and misrouted text messages.
Conclusion: fifteen minutes well spent
A clean cancellation means half an hour of preparation: checking your commitment end date, working out what is genuinely owed, choosing porting over plain cancellation, and archiving the evidence. On a committed contract, the gap between a badly handled exit and a well-managed one often exceeds €200.
On this particular point, the French legal framework is rather favourable to consumers. The difficulty is not winning your case: it is knowing that you can ask. Keep this simple reflex — any sum claimed must be explainable line by line. An operator unable to justify an amount cannot demand it.
