Finally, there is good news for mobile subscribers looking forward to getting relief from unwanted telemarketing calls and SMS. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has decided to implement new guidelines to check pesky calls and SMS from September 27.
In a notification issued on Monday regarding the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Sixth Amendment) Regulations, 2011, the TRAI said all relevant clauses of regulations have been amended.
The TRAI said the Department of Telecommunications has provided ‘140' number series to be allocated to telemarketers. Access providers (operators) have to make relevant provisions in their network before allocation of resources to telemarketers using ‘140' numbering series from both mobile and fixed line networks, it said.
From September 27, all telephone subscribers who have registered with the ‘National Customer Preference Registry' (earlier known as ‘Do Not Call Registry') would get relief from all commercial communications. As per the latest TRAI figures, India has over 85-crore mobile users and 3.4-crore landline subscribers.
In December last year, the TRAI issued new regulations with provisions of hefty penalty of up to Rs. 2.50 lakh on erring telemarketing companies and blacklisting of habitual offenders. Initially, the new guidelines were to be implemented on January 1, 2011, but could not be implemented in the absence of an identified number series, first in case of commercial calls coming from mobile networks and then in landline phones. The new regulations also mandate that no commercial communication, even for unregistered customers, shall be sent between 9 p.m. and 9 a.m.
