Pesky calls: DoT to meet security agencies

Plan to have a landline number series that could be allotted to telemarketing firms

The guidelines issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) last year to check pesky calls and short messages could not be implemented so far. File photo

To put a mechanism of checking unsolicited telemarketing calls and SMSes in place, the Department on Telecommunications (DoT) officials will hold a meeting with various security agencies next week to decide on a landline number series that could be allotted to telemarketing firms.

“We will meet security agencies next week to discuss issues they have with regard to identifiable landline number series for telemarketing agencies,” Telecom Secretary R. Chandrashekhar told journalists on Tuesday. The DoT had pointed out various technical, billing and security concerns in issuing a number series for landline services. Unlike the fully automatic mobile networks that could easily identify a number, manual procedures need to be followed to identify a landline number.

New, stricter norms

Significantly, the new stricter guidelines issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) last year to check pesky calls and short messages could not be implemented so far, as the DoT had failed to identify a landline number series to be given to telemarketing firms.

However, the DoT had decided numbering series starting from ‘140' for allocation to mobile services.