Updated: Pesky SMSs/Calls: Major relief to users from March 21, 2011

[gmkarthikeyhan 2]

when it will be launched................?

[Karthik R 246]

Sebi to message Trai on banning mass stock tips via cells

New Delhi : The capital market watchdog may soon approach the telecom regulator to curb unsolicited stock tips on mobile phones. The objective of the Securities Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is to protect investors from being misled by such information, which could be erroneous or a ploy to manipulate stock prices.

"Such messages can mislead small investors... we are contemplating some action," a senior Sebi official told ET, adding that the market regulator may take up the issue with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( Trai )).

Sebi has already come down heavily on internet blogs, chat fora , emails and social networking sites that offer advice on stocks. The telecom watchdog, which is chalking out a policy on bulk messages, has proposed a system of identifying senders of unsolicited messages.

The guidelines are yet to get a nod from the government. Apart from bulk messages pushing products, some market intermediaries have been using this platform to promote stocks. The issue largely relates to unsolicited text messages (SMSes) sent to people who are not clients of an intermediary. In March, Sebi had alerted investors in this regard.

"Where the advice is rendered or sought to be rendered by any person, by means of advertisements through SMSes, or the electronic or print media, whether pursuant to or in the absence of any contract or arrangement, it might be an attempt to influence market price and lure investors.

Investors are therefore advised to take adequate care and carry out necessary due diligence before acting on the basis of such advice/communication," the Sebi communique had said. The Sebi code of conduct for all intermediaries, including portfolio managers, provides that an intermediary or any of its employees cannot, directly or indirectly, give investment advice about any security in the publicly accessible media, unless it has disclosed its long or short position in the said security.

The regulator had recently announced a new code of conduct for staff of broking houses and other market intermediaries to check propagation of unsubstantiated news, which could have implications for stock price movements. "The staff of broking houses and other intermediaries should be discouraged from circulating information obtained from clients or others without proper verification," a recent Sebi circular said.

The market regulator will also start a software-based monitoring of discussions on social networking platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

- Economic Times

[kesav 127]

Trai-DoT continue at loggerheads, pesky calls to stay

With no resolution in sight of the differences between the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the department of telecommunications (DoT) on putting in place an effective filtering mechanism for unsolicited calls and messages, mobile phone users will have to live with the pesky calls menace for some time more.

Trai and DoT are yet to reach a consensus over issuing separate landline numbers for telemarketers to effectively filter unsolicited calls, even as Trai chairman J. S. Sarma late last month assured that the matter would be sorted out in the next 15 days.

Sarma had, on March 28, told MAIL TODAY that he has been assured by the higher-ups in the government that the issue of filtering mechanism for unsolicited calls would be sorted out soon. The final date for resolution of the issue has already been deferred four times. The Trai's last deadline of March 21 was deferred without giving any deadline. "My understanding is that in the next 15 days the matter would be sorted out with the DoT and it would take another three weeks for the operators to tune-up their network accordingly," Sarma had stated.

With the Trai and the DoT remaining at loggerheads over the issue, telemarketers continue to bombard mobile subscribers with unsolicited commercial calls (UCC).

DoT officials have explained that it would take time for it to upgrade its exchanges across the country for issuing a separate new series of ten-digit number starting with 140 to telemarketing companies for using landline phones.

A DoT official said that if it allowed the new series without making necessary changes in its exchanges across the country, it would be a security threat to its network. DoT officials argue that it will be difficult for security agencies to track calls as it will display a uniform code instead of the STD code.

At present, a landline call can be identified based on the STD code followed by the ensuing digits, which differ from exchange to exchange within a city.

"Any person with ill intention can misuse the network. He can plug into the network manually. It is not financially viable either. A separate series for telemarketers will impact the numbering system being used at present for allocating new connections," said the official.

Earlier, both DoT and Trai had said they cannot leave it to the operators to make their own arrangements for telemarketing calls. "The people's perception that we are purposefully delaying putting a stop to unwanted calls and messages from telemarketers is wrong. People should understand that the government has to facilitate the right kind of infrastructure and they (operators) follow that," said Trai.

Telecom operators too, have been pushing for deferring regulations on telemarketers as they have their commitments with the latter.

Meanwhile, after penalising new operators, telecom ministry is now turning the heat on old service providers and has finalised a penalty demand of over Rs 150 crore for their failure to roll out services on time.

DoT has finalised the fine of over Rs 150 crore on the established telecom operators for not rolling out their networks on time in the past, a senior DoT official said.

Last year, DoT had issued 119 notices to new telecom operators for slipping on network roll-out obligations and had levied penalties on them. It has collected over Rs 300 crore from them in penalties.

Earlier, the ministry had proposed penalty of Rs 477 crore (later reduced to Rs 135.60 crore) against old operators, including Bharti Airtel, Tata Teleservices, RCom, Aircel and others for missing roll out obligations.

source :: http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/trai-dot-spat-keeps-pesky-calls-menace-going/1/14828.html

[digitalnirvana 646]

With no resolution in sight of the differences between the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and the department of telecommunications (DoT) on putting in place an effective filtering mechanism for unsolicited calls and messages, mobile phone users will have to live with the pesky calls menace for some time more.

This was always going to happen. Really we need to learn lessons from these government agencies how to waste time.

[shrik 9]

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/telecom/telemarketing-calls-what-killed-the-do-not-call-registry/articleshow/8067980.cms

It's been four years since the National Do Not Call (NDNC) registry was established, a move intended to ensure subscribers are not harassed by endless telemarketing calls. Since then, the joke is that the registry is actually a 'Do Call' registry to be used by sales people to do just that.

Towards the end of last year, the telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) introduced new NDNC rules. The rules, some of which are yet to be approved by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), would mean greater regulation of unregistered telemarketers, and heftier fines for contravention. The new reforms are likely to work only if they account for the economics and incentives of the telemarketing industry-something the original rules, enforced in 2007, failed to do.

The Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communications Regulations, 2007, mandated setting up of a NDNC registry that would contain a list of telephone numbers of the subscribers who do not want to receive telemarketing calls or SMSes (unsolicited commercial communications, to use the jargon). All telemarketers were also required to register with TRAI. On registering, they were required to use the NDNC list given to them by TRAI, to ensure that they didn't call those customers on the registry.

These rules worked to some extent. There's evidence that telemarketing calls have actually come down. This was also pointed in a TRAI discussion paper issued last year. "Cold calling has come down over the years primarily because financial products like insurance, mutual funds and credit cards are not being sold over the phone anymore. The regulations also have seemed to worked as a minor deterrent," says an official at Vision Marketing and Information Services, a company specialising in marketing solutions based in Mumbai .

But here's the flip side. It's also the case that marketing SMSes are dramatically on the rise. That trend began post 2007-08 financial crisis as companies drastically scaled back marketing expenses. As a result, many telemarketing companies shut shop. But there was another consequence: pesky SMSes replaced pesky calls.

"Contrary to popular belief, tele-calling came down not because of regulations like NDNC and the fear of penal action but because cold calling had stopped yielding results," says Sanjiv Swarup, co-director of Direct Marketing Association, India.

Consequently, SMS marketing is the preferred option and it's cheap as well. While large companies have the cushion of big marketing budgets to create necessary leads through TV advertisements and attractive print advertisements, for the flourishing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), telemarketing or rather SMS marketing is the only way to reach out to the maximum number of people at minimum cost.

Take Mysmsmantra, a company that offers bulk SMS services. The company prices its packages on the basis of the number of customers to which SMSes will be sent. On its website, the company offers a buy-one-get-one-free on all its bulk SMS packages. One can send a lakh SMSes (which effectively means 2 lakh) for Rs 5,515.

What's the return? Telemarketers say the response rate from customers in the case of SMS advertising, especially in real estate, is high. A lakh SMSes are able to generate at least 10-15 responses. And of these, at least one or two get converted, which means a good commission to the property broker. On the other hand, a quarter page advertisement on the front page of a leading daily in just one city can be as high as Rs 18 lakh. "We manage to get good leads from SMS marketing and it doesn't even eat much into our budget," says Shiv Priya, executive director at Amrapali developers. Other sectors which use SMS marketing widely are financial services, beauty and cosmetics and health and fitness.

The case for SMS marketing has been further strengthened by the easy availability of customer databases at throwaway prices. Companies that want to sell a particular product to a particular segment can buy segregated data from the market. And for those who want to send messages to anybody and everybody need to just buy generic data. Segregated data with additional information on income, address, or age cost more and generic data costs less.

"A package of a good database along with SMSes can be sold for 50-75 paise per SMS. On the other hand, grey-market vendors offer extensive but possibly inaccurate data in the range of 1 crore to 3 crore numbers for as low as Rs 5-10,000," says a marketing official at Mailing Lists India, an international list brokerage and list management company.

And here's where the NDNC list comes in. From a no-go area, it has transformed into a lucrative database of potential customers. According to Swarup, the approximately Rs 2,000-crore telemarketing industry, employing around 7 lakh people cannot possibly do without the 110 million subscribers registered with NDNC registry. "For most telemarketers and companies, these do-not-call set of consumers is the target," says Utsav Dar, co-founder of Lateral Trends, a company in Delhi that provides HR, business and investment solutions.

Telemarketers claim that it is the clients, which pressure them to call customers on the NDNC list. "We just work according to what the client says. There are many who want us to send SMSes to NDNC numbers. We try and avoid this but in case the client is adamant, we create a written agreement where we tell the client we won't be responsible in case of any complaint," says Gaurav Jain , founder and director of Future Dimensions Consultants, a software development and telemarketing firm based in Noida .

Against all these incentives, what are the penalties for calling someone on the NDNC list? Even assuming that a customer complains, the first-time penalty against a telemarketer is Rs 500, rising to Rs 1,000 for subsequent offences. Against the returns, it's little wonder that spam SMSes have become so big.

It is clear TRAI's 2007 regulation did not foresee the rise of SMS as a marketing tool. The new regulations have proposed a series of reforms. "We couldn't let this industry die just in the name of privacy. It won't be easy or desirable. The whole industry isn't bad, some services are of benefit to us," says SK Gupta, adviser (IT and consumer affairs) with TRAI. Provisions of the new regulation that have come into force provide two categories for customers: fully blocked and partially blocked. Customers can pick the kind of ads they would like to receive. Telemarketers can now also register with TRAI online.

The other rules would come into effect once the DoT clears the air over the separate number series for telemarketers. These include heftier fines for contravention. A first-time offender will be charged Rs 25,000. From here, fines rise steeply-up to Rs 2.5 lakh for the sixth time a telemarketer breaks the rules. Further offences will lead to the telemarketer being blacklisted for two years. For telemarketers who do not want to register at all, the regulations lay down a separate numbering series, beginning with '140' so that these calls can be easily recognised. Most importantly, the rules also require telecom operators to not provide anyone other than a registered telemarketer a tariff plan or SMS package permitting sending of more than 100 SMSes per day per SIM.

But if all these new reforms are implemented, how effective will they be? The heftier fines may prove to be a disincentive to send spam SMSes, and the direction to telecom operators to offer bulk SMS plans only to registered telemarketers may increase the incentive for a number of unregistered telemarketers to register themselves.

Earlier, there were no benefits accruing to telemarketers for registering with TRAI. And while only registered telemarketers could access the NDNC registry, this was hardly a problem since the incentive to stick to the non-NDNCed numbers was hardly there.

But the rules may prove effective only to an extent. "The unscrupulous telemarketers cannot be reigned in by this regulation. It will only apply to ethical telemarketers who follow TRAI rules and would subsequently come under more rules," says Vikram Tiwathia, senior director, Cellular Operators Association of India. In the meantime, expect those real estate advertisements on SMS to keep coming.

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Pesky calls may continue for at least another one year: TRAI

24 Apr, 2011, 09.03PM Economic Times

NEW DELHI: The menace of pesky calls is likely to continue for another year at least as state-run BSNL has said that it will take 10 months after getting necessary approval to upgrade its network-- vital to implement TRAI's idea of identifiable number series to tele-marketing firms.

BSNL's upgrade of its network is essential as all calls are inter-connected irrespective of their origin and end.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its regulation to put a check on unsolicited calls and SMSes has directed telecom service providers to allocate easily identifiable number series for tele-marketing companies.

On a request from TRAI, the Department of Telecommunication has issued a number series starting with '140' to tele-marketing companies for mobile phone numbers but not for landline connections.

Adding three digit series to landline numbers will take total digits to 13. And to transmit a 13-digit number to telecom network, especially for caller line identification, BSNL and MTNL need to install modern equipment in exchanges.

"Private companies have said that they can upgrade their network in few weeks time but BSNL and MTNL will need time as government rule mandates them to procure equipment for upgrading network through tenders," DoT official said who did not wished to be named told PTI.

"BSNL has said that it will need at least 10 month time for this after government approval to meet all the requirement of TRAI's regulation," the official added.

BSNL has more than 38,000 telephone exchanges for landline connections throughout the country. According to the DoT official, almost all of these exchanges need to be upgraded to handle transmission of 13-digit number series.

BSNL officials denied to comment on the issue saying that new chairman and managing director of the company is likely to be appointed within a week and hence no one from company can comment on the issue.

Service providers have mentioned that mobile phone network alone cannot handle load of telephone calls that tele-marketers make and hence allocation of landline phone is must for running their business and prevent mobile network from congestion.

Telecom operators a in meeting held with DoT on April 13 have said that TRAI did not consult them on issues related identifiable landline number series before coming up with its regulation.

"Telecom operators have said they were not consulted on landline issue by TRAI. They have expressed their inability to provide only mobile resources for the operations of tele-marketing companies as they make large number of calls, which may choke their network," DoT official said.

Queries send to TRAI Chairman JS Sarma on this issue received no response.

[kesav 127]

shocking news..... :cry:

It's pure ridiculous to demand 10 months when private operators can do it in few weeks.

If BSNL/MTNL has asked for say 3 months, it makes sense in relation to number of exchanges they operate...

"10 Months!!!!" is totally unjustifiable delaying tactics funded by telemarketers in the background.

:angry:

:ranting:

It clearly shows now telemarketers are under seize since separate series will create havoc to their business.

They're stooping to such a shameful level by fanning irrational issues by bribing officials in BSNL/MTNL.

Why not DoT and Govt agencies setup fast track approval mechanism taking the seriousness of this issue???

It's just updating equipments in exchanges and certainly do not involve any field work like digging grounds or building premises/towers.

:bash:

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

I remember this updated-DND system discussion was started during the time when in Parliment-discussion PranabMukherjee got call from one tele-marketer asking "Do you want a HOME LOAN Sir????".. At that time only (oct-nov2010) raja started this discussion on blocking unwanted calls to next level...

Now the simplest way to quicken this job is:-

1. Get some pre-activated SIM (available FREE everywhere) with TT...

2. Call @Dr.YumYumSingh or @SoniaGaxdhi or again our Pranab ji and ask "Do you want some personal loan sir ji????", during any important meeting...

3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 till some concrete actions start...

Another side-benefit possible from this attack is "they may also take steps to stop fake-activation by telecom operators" then...

[commonman 228]

why not TRAI put in a regulation that makes the operator to credit Rs.1 to the customer account (where customer is registered for DND) for every single unsolicitated SMS. That would automatically solve the problem.

But TRAI would not do it, as it is subservient to the Govt. which in turn is subservient to the business community.

[kesav 127]

Such mechanism is already there..instead of paying to customer, an operator has to pay to DoT.

The problem is

[kesav 127]

Telcos can curb pesky calls in 6 weeks of new numbering series

NEW DELHI: Telecom companies have informed telecom regulator Trai that they will be able to implement rules to curb pesky calls within six weeks of DoT allocating landline number series to tele-marketing companies.

Telcos have asked a maximum of six-week time to make changes in their network to meet Trai's new rules on pesky calls and SMSes, telecom regulator said today.

"We can have it (regulations to curb pesky call) implemented in four to six weeks time of DoT allocating landline number series," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman J S Sarma said on the sidelines of an open house discussion on Interconnection Usage Charge (IUC) here.

In December, Trai come with recommendations, 'The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2010' to curb menace of pesky calls and SMS.

It has recommended a fine of up to Rs 2,50,000 on tele-marketing companies for making unsolicited calls or sending such SMSes to a consumer registered in national customer preference register -- a modified version of Trai's do-not-call registry list.

However, the recommendations have not been implemented so far as the Department of Telecom (DoT) is yet to resolve some technical and security issues involved in the allocation of identifiable number series as recommended by Trai.

After deliberations with telecom operators, DoT is now working on new a number series for tele-marketing companies.

"DoT has written to security agencies for approval a week back and hope that it (new number series) will be made available soon," Sarma said.

However, he did not specify time for the implementation of the regulation.

"It depends on clearance from security agencies... I hope it should be done soon," Sarma said.

source :: http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-05-25/news/29581648_1_communications-customer-preference-regulations-j-s-sarma-trai

Looks like there's a ray of hope at the end of the tunnel.......

Edited May 28, 2011 by kesav

[rajanmehta 4,056]

Finally all seems to be ready now. TRAI has issued the notification yesterday and the NEW Pesky Call/SMS regulations are coming in force from 27th September 2011.

Provisions:

• Every Telco to withdraw current numbers of Telemarketers and issue new 140 number series before 26th.
  
• You can change your preferences in Do Not Call Registry after every 7 days instead of earlier 3 months.
  
• Any marketing call/SMS has to be only between 0900 Hrs to 2100 Hrs.
  

Don't rejoice yet. You may get freedom from pesky calls/SMS but you will have new restriction even as an individual on how many SMS you can send from 27th September. Sad for all of you heavy SMS users and enjoying 500 SMS per day, 15,000 SMS Month Packs, following restrictions are applicable.

• Not more than 100 SMS per day per SIM and not More than 3,000 SMS per SIM per month.
  
• TRAI can exempt certain category of SMS from above limit time to time. Right now, it has not announced any exemption.
  
• Even when the category is exempted, customer has to give undertaking to telco not to use it for commercial purpose and telco has to enter the telephone number, name, address of the customer, category of exempted SMS and date of permission in National Telemarketing Register.
  

TRAI Notification Dated 5th September Attached.

TRAI 6th_amendement.pdf

[santanu@impaq 16]

Even with these restrictions I shall be happy if properly implemented.

I have a 98100XXXXX Airtel No in Delhi and get about 25 to 40 SMS and upto 3 ~ 5 such calls everyday.

Till now DND was fairly useless.

But I still believe, we will not be spared from these pesky SMSes and Unsolicited Calls

[mastermunj 10]

The 100 SMS limit per day seems too strict for heavy users. 200 should be a fair deal I believe.

[Shabz 8]

The telecallers from new companies (like now travel companies, new recharge shops) they won't be applying for numbers with '140' they will take a new sim card and will call you from it or send sms from that number. How will government stop them ( as these are the peoples from whom you get the most calls and sms)

[Meherab 2]

I guess let the rule get enforced first then we could probably discuss on further probabilities. The main problem here is that the date gets postponed just a day prior to its enforcement. 100 sms per day in today's day seems ok as most of the people converse over BBM, Gtalk, viber etc. I get woken up early morning specially on holidays to here "sir S** is offering u a credit card with XYZ benefits"

Really hope these dates do not get further postponed.

[sougatadc 358]

^^^

Most aptly said. Lets hope for the best. Lets wait for the date.

[city02 63]

as usual our beloved regulators are taking the stupid way to solve a problem:

RBI took a similar route when it wanted to protect existing customers of floating rates loans since banks would mostly raise rates very fast and take a long time to reduce them

there were many simple solutions to this discrimination already implemented abroad decades ago -

a] all floating loans to be indexed to a certain max spread over specified FD rates of the bank

this means that the spread can decrease but never increase [rachet effect]

b] all floating loans to be indexed to an independent benchmark NOT controlled by that bank / lender

c] removal / ban on all pre-payment penalties to promote refinancing of higher interest floating loans

instead the RBI implemented a complex 'base rate' system which still has leakages / unintended consequences

finally they are considering banning foreclosure charges more than a year after pushing through base rates

similarly for TRAI, instead of banning more than 100 sms/day

simply allow the operator to add a fine/surcharge for each sms above the monthly limit

this can be split 3 ways between the telco, TRAI, and the customer

using pricing to control volume is always a better 'freakonomics' approach than outright bans which induce a greater cost in terms of enforcement / punishment etc.

here is an example of increasing fines:

3 k - 6 k monthly sms = rs. 1 / sms surcharge

6 k - 12 k = rs. 2 / sms

12 - 24 k = rs 3 / sms

etc.

Finally all seems to be ready now. TRAI has issued the notification yesterday and the NEW Pesky Call/SMS regulations are coming in force from 27th September 2011.

Provisions:

• Every Telco to withdraw current numbers of Telemarketers and issue new 140 number series before 26th.
  
• You can change your preferences in Do Not Call Registry after every 7 days instead of earlier 3 months.
  
• Any marketing call/SMS has to be only between 0900 Hrs to 2100 Hrs.
  

Don't rejoice yet. You may get freedom from pesky calls/SMS but you will have new restriction even as an individual on how many SMS you can send from 27th September. Sad for all of you heavy SMS users and enjoying 500 SMS per day, 15,000 SMS Month Packs, following restrictions are applicable.

• Not more than 100 SMS per day per SIM and not More than 3,000 SMS per SIM per month.
  
• TRAI can exempt certain category of SMS from above limit time to time. Right now, it has not announced any exemption.
  
• Even when the category is exempted, customer has to give undertaking to telco not to use it for commercial purpose and telco has to enter the telephone number, name, address of the customer, category of exempted SMS and date of permission in National Telemarketing Register.
  

TRAI Notification Dated 5th September Attached.

[santanu@impaq 16]

The surcharge approach is excellent idea.

kill all birds with the same stone

[hiteshkkk1 327]

Just now received email from my bulk sms provider related to new DND guidelines to be effective from 27th Sep.

I have attached the same for our members.

TRAI_Regulation_Update_September_2011.pdf

[Karthik R 246]

Airtel faces fine of Rs 50 crore for masking calls

KOLKATA: The telecom department is likely to haul up Bharati Airtel for allegedly camouflaging its calling-line identification (CLI) mechanism while making promotional business calls to non-Airtel customers. So much so, it plans to slap a Rs 50-crore penalty on the company since tinkering with the CLI mechanism tantamouts to a breach of licence conditions, an official with direct knowledge of the matter told ET.

In an internal note reviewed by ET, the department claims it has received complaints about "Bharti Airtel camouflaging its CLI mechanism in Madhya Pradesh circle for making business promotion calls to non-Airtel mobile customers".

Investigations are underway to detect similar violations in other circles. Under Clause 41.19 (iv) of universal service access licence norms, a mobile operator cannot tamper with its CLI mechanism since this is required for security purposes, and any violation amounts to a security breach.

In a written response to an email from ET, an Airtel spokesman said: "We have not received any communication from the DoT in this regard and therefore cannot comment on the same." But in an internal note of the department, which is with ET, Bharti Airtel had initially claimed the CLI glitch was triggered by "an error by a third party, a call centre" in this case.

"If a third party provides any CLI, then without making any changes, we forward it to the subscriber, which happened in our case," said Bharti Airtel in an internal communication to the telecom department. But following investigations into the case by its vigilance wing, the telecom department found Bharti Airtel's rationale "did not hold good since the call centre in question was not a third party".

In fact, an internal department note claims that when this was pointed out, Bharti Airtel in a communication dated February 7, 2011, said a mistake had been committed by its technical staff. "To manage such a large network we are dependent on our workforce and humans do make unintentional mistakes at times due to work pressure and oversight. This particular incident was also a case of human error and we are taking steps to ensure such mistakes don't happen again by tweaking our process adequately."

Source : ET

[KapilAgrawal 340]

Seems like now 27th Sept is final date.

Major problem is you can't un-subscribe from a Individual sender. Either you can un-subscribe from category of your choice or completely block all.

[Karthik R 246]

No rethink on limit of 100 SMSes : TRAI

[Karthik R 246]

Relief for mobile users: no more pesky calls from Tuesday

Finally, mobile subscribers will get the much needed relief from unsolicited telemarketing calls and SMS from Tuesday when the new strict regulations of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to check pesky calls come into effect

Communications and IT Minister Kapil Sibal along with his Ministers of State Sachin Pilot and Milind Deora will formally introduce ‘The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation, 2010' that paves way for imposing hefty fines on defaulting telemarketing companies as well as operators who fail to comply with the new regulations. The TRAI and mobile operators are likely to come out with a series of advertisements to make people aware about the new regulations.

To start or stop telemarketing calls/SMS, subscribers can call 1909 to choose his preferred option, while this can also be done by sending SMS to their respective operators.

Under the new regime, subscribers can opt for ‘fully blocked' category where all commercial calls/SMS will be blocked, while there is a ‘partially blocked' category to receive various promotional SMS.

If a customer wants to exercise the option of ‘fully blocked', he may send SMS ‘START 0' and if he wants to exercise the option of ‘partially blocked,' he may send SMS ‘START' and give option of his choice. For example, ‘START 1' for receiving SMS relating to banking/insurance/financial products/credit cards or ‘START 2' for real estate and so on. There are seven categories to choose from.

The new regulations have provisions of hefty penalty of up to Rs.2.50 lakh on erring telemarketing companies and blacklisting of habitual offenders. The regulations also mandate that no commercial communication, even for unregistered customers, shall be sent between 9.00 p.m. and 9.00 a.m., so that customers are not disturbed at night.

However, one new aspect of the regulations, included earlier this month, is that all subscribers will be restricted from sending more than 100 SMS a day. This has been done to ensure that people engaged in various businesses cannot send promotional SMS from unregistered phone numbers.

For the convenience of subscribers, the TRAI has made it mandatory for all operators to set up a facility for registration of complaints of customers regarding receipt of unsolicited commercial calls either through voice calls or SMS, which will be toll free.

Source : The Hindu

[SantoshRoyal 16]

:pleasantry: :pleasantry:

:yahoo: :yahoo:

:dance: :dance:

What a relief for everyone...