Should Tele Marketing Be Banned ?

[imvikky 0]

It seems the site is working the other way round... I placed my no today and next two continuous days I got calls to buy reliance landline phones...

[Nirvana 4]

yeah, I still get marketting calls on my AirTel number even though I have request for disabling such calls.

Unwanted calls may stop soon

Pankaj Anup Toppo, Outlook Money | April 17, 2006

It's possibly the worst news: telemarketers have discovered mobile phones.

And so you get calls from strange numbers, offering you everything from personal loans to free holidays. You play safe and decide to ignore all calls from unknown numbers - and in the process miss out those crucial calls from clients or headhunters. But all this is mere irritation. It's when the telemarketer has information about, say, your bank balance or your credit card dues that things get dangerous.

If concerned citizens, mobile phone service providers and the government have their way, unsolicited calls will soon be history. Let's take a look at what has been done so far to tackle this problem.

Citizen's action

Harsh Pathak, a Delhi-based lawyer, filed a PIL in the Supreme Court last year, through his lawyer Vivek K Tankha, seeking an end to "the endemic invasion of privacy of the subscribers of mobile telephony services". In his petition, Pathak cited cases of how unsolicited calls are dealt with in countries like the US. He also pointed out to the absence of a law in India pertaining to telephone consumers, and the absense of a regulatory forum that consumers can approach.

Should unwanted phone calls be banned?

After hearing the PIL, the Supreme Court bench comprising Justice N Santosh Hegde and Justice S B Sinha, issued notices to the Centre and the Law Ministry seeking a law to ban unsolicited calls, especially from telemarketing executives. A similar notice was issued to MTNL, Hutch, Reliance Infocomm, Idea Cellular, Bharti Tele-Ventures, Citibank, HSBC, Standard Chartered, HDFC and ICICI.

Did all this have an effect?

"Initially, calls had stopped. But after a while they started again," says Pathak. In the meantime Pathak filed an interim application in the Supreme Court in mid-February this year to update the court on the developments in the interim. Among other things, the interim application took note of the RBI notification that directed banks to maintain a "Do Not Call" register and not share consumer information with direct sales agents.

The matter finally came for hearing in the second week of March 2006. "In the hearing it was stated that the ministry of telecommunications had convened a meeting of all the cellphone operators and told them that the "Do Not Call" register that they have set up was not working. The ministry has asked for suggestions and the draft has to be submitted to the court in two weeks time," says Pathak.

Company initiatives

Deciding to take matters into its own hands, rather than waiting for orders from elsewhere, Hutch had launched its 'Do Not Disturb' initiative in February last year. This scheme was meant to protect subscribers from Hutch's own marketing as well as calls from other companies. "In case a customer does not want to receive such calls or messages (from Hutch), he can send 'DND' as an SMS to 123 and his number will be struck off the list," says Harit Nagpal, operations director, Hutchison Essar.

The company also allows subscribers to block calls and messages from other telemarketers. All the subscriber has to do is text 'Stop' followed by the telephone number he wants blocked, and send the message to Hutch at 123. "We will trace that call and request the telemarketing company to refrain from making such calls," says Nagpal.

The response to the Do Not Disturb campaign has been good, but what if subscribers still get calls from numbers they want blocked? Nagpal says: "At best what we can do is request the company to stop making such calls. We believe that repeated requests should work."

Joint action

Further, in February this year, Manoj Kohli, president-mobility, Bharti Tele-Ventures wrote to T V Ramachandran, director general, Cellular Operators' Association of India, asking him to convene a meeting of operators so that they could jointly approach the government to seek suitable penalties against marketing agencies.

"Besides annoyance to the customers of mobile operators, such activities also cause serious network load as the incoming calls are free in the hands of customers and carry only a nominal termination charge," Kohli says in his letter.

Typically, such calls are made on behalf of reputed banks, credit card companies and insurance companies. The letter states that such entities have been urged to check their activities, including sending them legal notices.

The initiatives of the service providers, government and consumer associations are still at a nascent stage and it will take some time before telemarketers in India are penalised for making unsolicited calls to mobile phone subscribers. However, with the government starting to take steps to end this menace, harassed consumers can heave a sigh of relief.

[Arun 795]

Trai to curb unwanted calls

Times News Network

Tuesday, November 21, 2006 03:14:48 AM

New Delhi

In a welcome reprieve for millions of phone subscribers, India will soon launch a ’do-not-call’ registry where subscribers can list their telephone numbers to avoid telemarketing calls and SMSs. Initiating a consultation process on the issue on Monday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said this was essential as unsolicited commercial calls “disturbed a large number of subscribers by forcing them to respond, invading their privacy.”

Trai cited the growing dissatisfaction among consumers on this issue, and said the exercise was aimed at reducing the bulk of unsolicited commercial communications. These include telemarketing calls, SMSs, or other commercial or marketing messages. “It is essential to maintain the privacy and reduce the inconvenience to subscribers who do not wish to receive such calls or messages, yet not ban the activity of telemarketing itself,” Trai chairman Nripendra Misra said.

The telecom industry has welcomed the proposal. “Operators are victims of unsolicited calls. We need to examine the ways and means of controlling these calls. We will co-operate with the regulator in finding a solution for this problem,” TV Ramachandran, director general, Cellular Operators’ Association of India told ET. “Any regulation to stop unsolicited calls is welcome. This provides a good opportunity for service providers to address this issue,” said SC Khanna, secretary general of AUSPI, the CDMA lobby.

Trai has said it has no intention of banning telemarketing, adding the process was only aimed at reducing the number of telemarketing calls to people who do not wish to get them. “A portion of the population wants to learn about different products and services, and telemarketing is a large industry that has generated useful employment. The telemarketing industry will benefit from this move because it will reduce the number of calls they will need to make to reach interested potential customers,” Trai said.

Trai has also sought public comments on who should be responsible for stopping telemarketing calls — the service providers or telemarketers — and what type of penalties should be imposed on do-not-call violators.

Many countries around the world have implemented mechanisms to reduce unwanted and unsolicited commercial communications. The US has implemented a national do-not-call register, while other countries like Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, and Hong Kong have also begun or are planning similar measures. Many of these mechanisms involve both regulation and legislation.

[abhay 0]

IBA (Indian Banks' Association) Ponders Common Do-Not-Call-Registry

According to reports, in compliance with Reserve Bank of India (RBI) guidelines asking each bank to setup a registry for customers who do not wish to receive tele-marketing calls from the banks, banks have taken an initiative to set-up their own system but customers are required to register with each bank separately.

However, in a move to provide customers with a one-stop solution, the Indian Banks' Association (IBA), in conjunction with Indian Cards Council (ICC) and Master Card World Wide, has taken the initiative to setup a common 'Do-Not-Call-Registry', which will operate on behalf of the entire Banking and Financial Services.

It is learnt that this initiative would enable the banks to operate from a shared platform and ensure that customers only need to register once with the common 'Do-Not-Call-Registry" to prevent telemarketing calls from both banks and their Direct Selling Agents.

Taking the proposal forward, IBA has issued a 'Request for Proposal' (RFP) for the Do-Not-Call-Registry initiative. The RFP is available on the IBA website, www.iba.org.in.

According to sources, the Do-Not-Call Registry, once in place, will allow customers who prefer not to receive telemarketing calls relating to banks' financial services products to contact one centralized registry to activate this preference. Telemarketers will be required to refrain from calling consumers who have put themselves on this registry.

Besides, the IBA and ICC anticipate that telemarketers would need to access the Do-Not-Call Registry at least on a fortnightly basis in order to ensure that the numbers they wish to call are not on the national centralized Do-Not-Call-Registry. And once in place, the IBA initiative will bring Indian consumers' banking experiences at par with global standards.

Meanwhile, for additional information interested service providers can contact IBA latest by December 31, 2006. The last date of submitting the completed proposals is January 18, 2007.

http://www.techtree.com/India/News/IBA_Pon...-77920-547.html

[abhay 0]

Telcos want commercial calls out of do-not-call registry

If telecom companies have their way, they will continue to trouble you with unsolicited commercial calls (UCC) even after the ‘Do-Not-Call’ (DNC) registry comes into effect in mid-2007.

Telecom operators have written to regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) demanding that all “communication undertaken by the service provider with his subscriber for his business and commercial purposes be exempted from UCC”. UCC includes telemarketing calls, SMS and other commercial or marketing messages. A section of the industry has demanded that calls to past and prospective customers should also be allowed.

Trai had initiated a consultation towards creating a do-not-call registry last month, stating that UCC “disturbed a large number of subscribers by forcing them to respond to their telephones, thus invading their privacy”.

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), the GSM body, in their communication to Trai over this issue, said: “There should be an exemption list published by the authority, which excludes certain types of communications from the purview of the definition of UCC”.

According to COAI, the exemption list must include all service-related communication undertaken by the service provider for business and commercial purposes. For instance, information to the customer of his pending dues and new tariff plans being offered, COAI said.

Justifying their demand, COAI pointed out that this was in line with the Trai mandate that consumers be kept informed about changes in any item of tariff, credit limit and provision of any chargeable value added service.

Going a step further, the Association of Unified Service Providers of India (Auspi), the body representing CDMA players, said that calls made to subscribers that have quit the service provider over the last 18 months also be placed in the exempted categories.

Interestingly, Auspi has also demanded that calls made to prospective customers — those subscribers who had enquired about product or services in the last three months — be permitted even to those who have registered with the DNC.

“The exempted category of calls should be suitably incorporated in the definition (of UCC). This exempted category mentioned is also part of Do Not Call Registry Act of Australia and Telemarketing Rules of USA,” Auspi stated.

Apart from the industry bodies representing operators on both technological platforms, operators including Bharti Airtel, MTNL and Tata Teleservices have also written to Trai requesting that the above-mentioned changes be incorporated to the definition of UCC.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/N...how/1003246.cms

[Arun 795]

Telemarketers can’t call you from April 1, 2007

Times News Network

Saturday, January 27, 2007 12:37:51 AM

Subscribers harassed by telemarketing calls have reasons to cheer-the proposed do-not-call (DNC) registry will come into effect this April.

In a unique arrangement, customers who enroll for the DNC registry can opt for a blanket ban on all telemarketing calls or can select the kind of calls they wish to receive. For instance, a member of this registry can opt to receive only telemarketing calls related to home loans or FMCG products. Trai, in its guidelines on the DNC registry, will specify that subscribers will only have to inform their service provider to enroll. It will then be the operators’ responsibility to register these subscribers’ numbers in a central DNC registry that will be maintained by an independent agency, Trai sources told ET. The guidelines will be made public next month.

“In a bid to ensure that customers are not charged a fee to place their numbers in this registry, the regulator is likely to mandate that service providers share the cost of maintaining and operating the DNC registry,” sources said. These details are however yet to be finalised, they added.

Many countries across the world have implemented mechanisms to reduce unwanted Unsolicited Commercial Calls (UCC). The US, for example, has implemented national DNC registers and telemarketers who call a person listed are fined.

At the same time, Trai officials have also cautioned that the DNC registry would not offer a 100% solution to the menace of telemarketing calls. “This can address the issue by about 75%. We need new laws in place to address this issue completely,” Trai officials said. For instance, even after the DNC registry is operational, Trai cannot impose financial penalties on violators as the telemarketing sector comes under the category “other service providers”, the guidelines for which can be issued only by the Department of Telecom.

But in a bid to address this issue, Trai is contemplating a move, where service providers will be asked to disconnect the phonelines of telemarketers, who make calls to subscribers registered with the DNC. Trai also shares the view that allowing subscribers to opt for selective telemarketing calls will ensure that this industry is not hit. “A portion of the population wants to learn about different products and services and telemarketing is a large industry that has generated useful employment. The registry is aimed to reduce the number of telemarketing calls to people who do not wish to receive them, and not to stop telemarketing altogether. The telemarketing industry will benefit because it will reduce the number of calls they will need to make...,” Trai said.

[Oops... A Lion 0]

I am not against paying money for unwanted calls....... but if u say we should pay 25 bucks evvry month, but why......

Isnt that a form of a legal bribe which we are giving to the mobile company..... When we take a connection there is no way written in the legal docs that we will be getting calls from telemarketeres.... and then why we need to pay them something which actually is wrong.....

TRAI should come out with a strick policy..... as the employees of the company thesmselves give the numbers..... or else where would they get to know so and so is using this number and if they do get to know then it proves that indians are antaryamis......

And the reason why i m saying this is cozz i once happend to tell this to one of the Bharti`s executive, and he told me that no em[ployee of the company gives them the numbers.......

[abhay 0]

i have registered for DNC registry's of most banks but still i get calls from then and has increased recently i don't know how !!! although i wish for a common DNC for all banks / mobile companies etc !!

[HetalDP 947]

It disturbing man.

There should be a Public Directory for Dont Disturb me Database.

And every organisation should follow that only.

Where Customer can put multiple preference regarding Blocking and Unblocking from different services.

Edited January 30, 2007 by hpnasik

[abhay 0]

i think all banks are implementing this kind of common registry if u search the forum will find a post i had posted on this topic