The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday issued a notification to check unwanted telemarketing communication, including fixed line calls, mobile calls and short messaging services.
NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday issued a notification to check unwanted telemarketing communication, including fixed line calls, mobile calls and short messaging services. While the `Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communications Regulations 2007’ has come into immediate effect, telemarketers have got three months to register themselves with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
So, for all practical purposes, the menace of unsolicited commercial communication would be controlled to a large extent by September 5.
The regulator has fixed a sum of Rs 500 as penalty per call or SMS if unsolicited communication is repeated by a telemarketer to a phone user for the second time. The penalty has been notified through 45th amendment of the telecom tariff order.
A first-time offender (guilty telemarketer) will, however, get away with a warning from the concerned service provider, to whom a complaint is forwarded. Service providers have been directed to disconnect phone connections of telemarketers if they continue to send unsolicited commercial communication.
Under the new regulation, DoT has authorised the National Informatics Centre for installation, operation and maintenance of the National-Do-Not-Call-Registry (NDNC regsitry). The NDNC must be set up within three months from now. Phone subscribers, who do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial communication, can register their phone numbers with their service providers for inclusion in the NDNC. Telemarketers too have to register with the NDNC registry.
Unsolicited commercial communication has been defined as “any message through telecommunication service which is transmitted for the purpose of informing about or soliciting or promoting any commercial transaction in relation to goods, investments or services which a subscriber opts not to receive.”
However, unsolicited commercial communication would not include a service or financial transaction under a specific contract.
Also, it would not include any message related to charities, national campaigns or natural calamities transmitted by the government or authorised agencies. In addition, messages in the interest of sovereignty, integrity, security, and public order of the country would be excluded from the list of unsolicited commercial communication.
The consultation process for curbing unsolicited communication was initiated in November 2006 by TRAI.
On April 23, it issued its final regulations to curb telemarketing calls or unsolicited commercial calls.
However, TRAI could not notify the regulation till DoT decided to modify the licensing conditions of the telecom service providers for making it mandatory for them to stop unsolicited calls.
Now, DoT has agreed to modify the licensing conditions for telcos, to bring them under the ambit of the new regulation.
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