Since the inception of the earlier Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Regulation on unsolicited commercial communications (UCC), unwanted pesky calls have substantially decreased. However UCC SMS remains an area of concern.
TRAI and the industry have worked together to implement a robust system that is designed to eliminate the problem of both voice and SMS UCC.
As the second largest telecom market in the world, India has taken the lead in designing a system unique in the world that includes two databases – a Do Not Call and a Do Call registry with seven preference categories for choosy customers who would like to receive only select calls and SMS’s.
Coupled with a “scrubbing” (by the telemarketer) and a “filtering” (by the originating service provider) requirement along with a new numbering prefix, this unique system posed a stringent set of challenges to service providers in implementation. We are happy to report that our world class engineers and programmers rose to the challenge and have completed the task in time for the September 27, 2011, roll out. Additional TRAI regulations such as telemarketer registration, black listing of errant telemarketers, onerous penalties on both offending network operators and telemarketers, among other things, make this one of the most robust overall solutions proposed anywhere in the world.
Rajan S. Mathews Director General COAI said, ?COAI and its members are pleased to continue our close cooperation with TRAI to make the launch of the UCC system a grand success which we expect will delight our customers.?
He further stated that “We believe this is a comprehensive approach to the problem and is our best chance to stop this nuisance to our customers.”
Mathews was, however, careful to set expectations saying that while we expect a smooth roll out, any project of this magnitude and complexity (over 800 million connections, covering 22 circles and 12 operators), was bound to have a few hiccups. We hope these will be minor and customers will enjoy this new experience.
