The
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is sticking to its
cap of 100 SMSs per post-paid and pre-paid user per day beginning September 27, except on festive and special days.
The regulator clarified that it has no plans to do away these restrictions.
Trai's comments came two days before the filtering mechanism for
unsolicited calls and messages finally comes into effect from September 27.
Over 130 million opt for Do Not Call registry There is a perception, especially among telecom operators, that the move will face technical glitches, as was witnessed during the rollout of mobile number portability (MNP) earlier this year.
"In order to curb the menace of pesky calls and messages, as of now, this (limiting the number of SMSs per day per SIM to 100) will be applicable to all users. If in future some problem arises, we will see," said a Trai official.
Trai's clarification comes within days of the telecom operators' lobby the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) asking the regulator to reconsider its recommendation to limit the number of SMSs per SIM card to 100 per day, saying that such a regulation may pose a potential challenge to the fundamental rights of subscribers.
COAI director general Rajan S. Mathews in a letter to the Trai last week said there could be several instances where SMSs would be an important mode of communication.
"There could be a situation where a customer has exhausted the limit and suddenly some emergency occurs. Due to this artificial restriction, the safety of the subscriber may be jeopardised," he had pointed out.
On September 5, Trai had recommended ending pesky calls and text messages from September 27.
In the case of post-paid numbers, the access provider shall not permit more than 3,000 SMSs per SIM per month, Trai's recommendations added.
All subscribers who have registered themselves with the National Customer Preference Registry (NCPR), earlier known as the 'Do Not Call Registry', would get relief from commercial communications, Trai said.
Last year, Trai had recommended the imposition of a maximum fine of Rs 2.5 lakh on telemarketing companies for making unsolicited calls or sending SMSs to users registered under the NCPR. Subscribers have the option of choosing from between the 'Fully Blocked' category or the 'Partially Blocked' category, where they will receive SMSs in categories chosen by them.
For registering under the fully blocked list via SMS, customers should SMS 'START 0' to 1909.
But most of the telcos are not serious about effectively rolling out the Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC) regime.
Queries sent by Mail Today to Tata Teleservices, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone, RCom and Idea Cellular well in advance were not answered. Tata Teleservices, Loop, Aircel and Vodafone are operators, who have big stakes in the telemarketing business.
A spokesperson for Vodafone said it was too premature to comment on the scenario that would unfold post-September 27.
A spokesperson for Idea maintained a similar stand. He said he had no clue about the number of complaints Idea has received from users against telemarketers in the past one year and how far they have been able to address these complaints.
The other queries emailed to the operators, regarding their new business plans with telemarketers were not answered.
Mathews of COAI had recently said that the UCC regulations post-September 27 were bound to have hiccups. He told Mail Today that scrubbing and filtering calls from telemarketers have not been tried elsewhere and could face problems initially.
Courtesy: Mail Today 
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