Unsolicited calls

It requires a nuisance call to the Union Finance Minister for the government to act in reining in unsolicited telemarketing calls though the Do Not Call Registry has been in place for quite some time. In other words, it is proof enough that the DNC registry has been ineffective and that any ordinary subscriber or his/her work is less important than that of a minister. Why have the service-providers not been acting on the registry all these years? Would the service providers have continued to take the man-on-the street for granted had this episode not come to light?

The registry, incidentally, acts only on unsolicited telemarketing calls or SMSs. There is no way to disable the promotional advertisements service providers bombard their customers with or their recorded calls that promote their plans. No private telecom player publishes the landline telephone directory. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India should insist on it.

A.V. Narayanan,

Tiruchi

Millions of mobile phone users across the country are thankful to the telemarketing man who made the unsolicited call to the Finance Minister offering him a home loan. But for his “intervention,” the Telecom Minister would not have swung into action.

P.G. Menon,

Chennai