'Kya aapko loan chahiye?': 6 in 10 Indians get 3 or more pesky calls each day, reveals survey

If you have received an unsolicited call asking if you are in need of a loan or a credit card or are looking to buy your dream property, you are not alone. Around 60 per cent of Indians get 3 or more such calls each day, with individuals selling financial services and real estate being the top offenders. This, however, is an improvement when compared to the last 12 months, according to a survey.

The recent LocalCircles survey noted that around 66 per cent mobile subscribers confirmed receiving 3 or more spam calls on an average every day in February last year. “A comparitive study of the data shows that from 66 per cent of mobile subscribers surveyed confirming getting 3 or more spam calls on an average every day in February 2023, the percentage has dipped to 60 per cent in the last 12 months,” the survey noted.

Among the top offenders were financial services (54 per cent),  real estate companies (22 per cent), companies providing healthcare/pathological services (7 per cent), companies offering a job/earnings opportunity (4 per cent), providing services like RO repair, spa, beauty, etc. (2 per cent), providing mobile number, better mobile talk/data plans (2 per cent) and the remaining 7 per cent indicated other categories.

In the financial services, 40 per cent of those surveyed flagged Bajaj Finance as the top offender whereas 27 per cent pointed at HDFC group as the second biggest offender.  In case of the HDFC group, around 12 per cent of those surveyed said that HDFC Bank was big on pesky calls whereas 15 per cent called HDFC Life Insurance out on this.

They were followed by the likes of Kotak Mahindra Bank (4 per cent), ICICI Bank (2 per cent), IDFC First Bank (2 per cent) and IndusInd Bank (2 per cent). Approximately 23 per cent, however, flagged other financial entities for pesky calls.

Moreover, around 30 per cent others, however, indicated that they received 1-2 spam calls on an average every day whereas 36 per cent said they got a minimum of 3-5 spam calls almost daily.

The survey further suggested that 21 per cent received 6-10 spam calls whereas 3 per cent received more than 10 unwanted calls. However, 6 per cent of those surveyed said they were fortunate enough to not receive any such calls compared to no respondent saying they did not get a pesky call.

But does being registered on the do not disturb (DND) list help? Around 90 per cent of the respondents said they still get these calls despite being registered on the DND list while 5 per cent said being registered on the DND list is a lifesaver. Other 5 per cent, however, did not give any clear response.

In order to tackle the issue of unwanted spam calls and messages, the Telecom and Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) instituted the National Do Not Call (NDNC) registry in 2011. Users can voluntarily sign up for this service to prevent unwanted marketing calls and messages whenever they want.

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