The government is planning to form a new panel to draft guidelines for curbing spam calls, especially phone calls made over internet and over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as WhatsApp. A proposal to set up the panel was made at an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Rohit Kumar Singh, secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs. The meeting was attended by officials from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the meeting was attended by telcos including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi).
During the meeting, it was observed that most of such calls were from the financial services sector, followed by real estate. It was also pointed out that spam callers are now switching to internet calls, especially using WhatsApp to lure customers into schemes and crypto investments or offer job opportunities. It was observed that these calls not only violate the privacy of users but also the rights of the consumers.
According to DoT, the Department of Consumer Affairs had been keen on understanding the steps being taken to reduce spam calls. They also communicated to DoT that they continue to receive many complaints about spam calls.
The government had already advised commercial entities to get 140 number series prefixed to their phone number so that a consumer could identify the caller. According to Singh, this gives subscribers more control over what kind of calls or texts they want to receive. Various unregistered telemarketers do not follow these provisions. It was emphasised in the meeting that all telemarketers should ensure strict compliance with these enabling provisions.
