The government has extended the deadline for public comments on draft guidelines aimed at curbing unsolicited business communications, such as promotional calls and text messages. The stakeholders can now submit their comments by August 8, 2024. The earlier deadline was July 21, 2024.
The extension was granted in view of requests received from various federations, associations and other stakeholders.
The draft guidelines, prepared after consultations with stakeholders including telecom firms and regulators, define ‘business communication’ as any communication related to goods or services like promotional and service messages but exclude personal communication. The key features of the draft guidelines include – applicability to all entities making or benefiting from such communications; classification of communications as unsolicited if it does not comply with recipient consent or preferences; and barring communications that violate the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) rules on commercial messages.
