According to a survey conducted by LocalCircles, a significant number of mobile users in India are inundated with unsolicited messages. The survey gathered responses from 41,000 individuals across 357 districts, revealing that 76 per cent of participants receive three or more spam SMS daily. Further, even among those registered on the do not disturb (DND) list, 80 per cent still report receiving unwanted messages.
The survey identified about 50 per cent of respondents noted receiving unwanted SMS related to financial services, while 32 per cent mentioned promotions from real estate companies, making these the top two sources of these spam messages. Furthermore, 87 per cent of those surveyed reported receiving spam messages from mobile numbers and coded senders that are hard to link to any specific brand or company.
Earlier, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has announced that starting September 1, messages containing non-whitelisted URLs or APKs will be banned. This initiative aims to curb harmful links that spammers often use to mislead consumers or spread malware. Additionally, TRAI has instructed telecom companies to disconnect the services of unregistered telemarketers found making spam calls and to impose a blacklist for up to two years.
