Despite the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) implementing its recommendations on curbing unsolicited calls and text messages, mobile users continue to receive such communications.
TRAI had asked telecom operators to limit the number of short message services from September 27, 2011. The regulator had said that no access provider shall permit sending more than one hundred SMSs per day per SIM.
As per the recommendations, post-paid users could send 3,000 SMSs per month per SIM. In case a customer wanted to use more than the prescribed limit of 100 SMSs a day, the access provider was to obtain an undertaking from such subscribers that the said telephone number shall not be used for sending any commercial communications.
TRAI had also recommended imposing a maximum fine of Rs 0.25 million on telemarketing companies for making unsolicited calls or sending text messages to a subscriber registered in the National Consumer Preference Registry, which is a modified version of TRAI’s Do Not Call Registry list.
Subscribers could opt for either the Fully Blocked category or the Partially Blocked category, wherein they would receive text messages as per the categories chosen. TRAI had also stipulated that messages in the Partially Blocked category could be sent to the consumer between 9 am and 9 pm.
TRAI had identified eight categories, including banking and financial products, real estate, education, health, consumer goods, automobiles, communication and entertainment, tourism and leisure, in the Partially Blocked category.
To register under the fully blocked list, the customer was required to send START 0 as a text message to 1909.
According to Rajan S. Mathews, director general, Cellular Operators Authority of India, “The lack of a prefix and a unique numerical code in such messages is a violation of regulations laid down by the telecom regulator. It can also mean that the messages originate from web SMS services and are sent through the internet.”
Prior to this, Vodafone Essar had penalised telemarketers for violating the regulations, and deposited Rs 50,000 in fines with TRAI.
