The Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to start taking action against unregistered telemarketers who are engaged in the activity of unsolicited commercial communications.
The court said it was posting the case for further hearing on August 28 to allow TRAI to show progress in the number of individuals and entities who have a registered “header” for the purpose of sending commercial communications. “Header” is an alphanumeric string of maximum eleven characters or numbers assigned to an individual, business or legal entity to send commercial communications under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preferences Regulations (TCCCPR).
“Ensure that there is more registration as per the regulations. Show some interest that you are interested in execution of the law,” the Bench told TRAI. The court made the remarks after senior advocate Dushyant Dave, appearing for Paytm, stated that out of nine lakh people and entities, only 20,000 have registered.
Paytm, in its petition, has alleged that telecom operators are not blocking those who are defrauding its customers by “phishing” activities over various networks.
Mr. Dave stated that as per the regulation, every access provider has to ensure that any commercial communication using its network only takes place using registered header assigned to the sender for the purpose of commercial communication. The senior advocate claimed that due to the large number of unregistered players, Paytm was experiencing fraud of its customers to the tune of ₹1-2 crore each month. “The moment everyone is registered, the matter is over,” Mr. Dave said.
“Are you [TRAI] so powerless that you can’t do anything. Have you taken action against a single person. You are waiting for what, the fraud to be committed,” the Bench asked.
