In No more unwanted SMSes trying to sell anything from properties in far-flung areas to insurance policies, gadgets, insurance policies and credit cards. From September 27, users will have the power to block such messages by registering their number with the national do-not-call (NDNC) registry, the database of subscribers who dont want to receive unwanted marketing messages.
In a statement, TRAI said, Relevant clauses of regulations have been amended and the regulations are being implemented from Sep 27, 2011. The TRAI statement goes on to say, Every Access Provider shall withdraw before the 26th September, 2011 all telecom resources allocated to a telemarketer except those telecom resources which have been allocated in accordance with the provisions of the regulations.
In order to gain freedom from unwanted intrusions into his or her cell phone all that the user needs to do is send a text message to a toll-free number 1909. The registration can also be done online and by making a phone call. The directive from TRAI follows telecom minister Kapil Sibals statement in the Rajya Sabha last month, when he said the mechanism to end the misery of mobile phone users would take another six weeks to be put in place.
The customer will have the option to either choose to be totally blocked from all marketing SMSes or decide to be partially blocked to get marketing messages from any of seven categories - banking/credit cards, real estate, education, health, consumer goods/auto, entertainment and tourism. If any marketing company continues to send messages to a customer who has registered himself at the Do Not Call registry, they will have to pay a fine ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 250,000.
According to reports, while the number of pesky calls has come down lately, the messages still remained a menace. On an average, as many as 47,454 complaints per month are being registered in this regard. Although over 130 million mobile subscribers had registered with the national do not call registry till Aug 25, consumers are still pestered with unwanted commercial calls and messages.
Many analysts have expressed the opinion that stronger data privacy policy was required as sale of subscriber information to telemarketing firms was mainly to blame for the millions of spam SMSes and marketing calls made every day to unsuspecting customers. Telemarketers now send about 75 million SMSes every day, according to TRAI. However, messages related to transactions are exempt from the new TRAI directive. Such messages are typically send from banks, insurance companies and telecom companies.
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