Technically, beginning midnight Monday, curtains came on
unsolicited commercial calls (UCCs) from telemarketers that have troubled mobile users for years. However, on the ground telemarketers could still play spoilsport with subscribers as only 2.7 crore of the total 85 crore subscribers are registered with the
Do-Not-Call registry.
Henceforth, by law, subscribers who receive unwanted messages and calls from telemarketers despite registering with the Do-Not-Call registry can file a complaint with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) or with the appellate authority of their concerned operator.
Over 130 million opt for Do-Not-Call registry Subscribers who have registered with the National Customer Preference Registry (NCPR), which was earlier known as the 'Do Not Call Registry', would get relief from commercial communications, Trai said.
Last year, Trai had recommended a
maximum fine of Rs 2.5 lakh on telemarketing companies making unsolicited calls or sending SMSs to consumers registered under the NCPR.
Subscribers have the option of choosing from between the 'Fully Blocked' or the 'Partially Blocked' category. While those who register themselves with the former category will not receive any commercial communications, those who register themselves with the latter category will receive SMSs in categories chosen by them.
Trai has identified eight categories - banking and financial products, real estate, education, health, consumer goods, automobiles, communication and entertainment, tourism and leisure - for the users opting for the 'Partially Blocked' category.
There is, of course, the restriction of 100 messages per subscriber per SIM card per day.
Subscribers can easily
identify calls coming from telemarketers as these numbers begin with the three digits - '140'. Operators have been told to make relevant provisions in their networks before allocation of resources to telemarketers using the '140' numbering series from both mobile and fixed-line networks.
Adding the three-digit series (140) to landline numbers will take the total digits to 13. To transmit such numbers on telecom networks, especially with caller line identification facility, public sector telecom companies BSNL and MTNL have installed new equipment.
In November last year Trai had allowed telemarketers to continue doing business, albeit with a restriction - that the numbers they use to make calls should begin with the three digits - 700. It was later changed to 140.
"We are ready and we will fulfil the requirements of Trai," BSNL chairman and managing director (CMD) R. K. Upadhyay said.
MTNL CMD Kuldip Singh had earlier said that the PSU would meet the requirements of the new service offering.
However, telecom lobby COAI's director general Rajan S. Mathews expressed his concerned about the 100 SMSs per SIM per day norm. "We will be in discussion with the regulator to sort this out," Mathews said.
Trai's move for an effective filtering mechanism for unwanted calls and messages from telemarketers has been deferred on four occasions starting with January 1, January 31, March 1 and March 21.
Telecom operators too have been pushing for deferring the regulations on telemarketers in view of their commitments with the latter. Bharti Airtel had exited the bulk SMS business in July last year. Tata Teleservices, Loop and Aircel are operators that have big presence in the telemarketing business.
The bulk messages market in India is worth over Rs 335 crore, with over 16,800 crore bulk messages being sent to mobile users every year. Typically, service operators sell bulk SMSs packages of, say one lakh SMSs for between Rs 2,000 and Rs 4,000.
Courtesy: Mail Today 
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