TRAI steps in to curb unwanted SMSes

TRAI today proposed charging unregistered telemarketers a Rs500 penalty on first complaint and disconnection of telecom resources on repeat of rule violation to curb the menace of unsolicited SMSes.

In case of unwanted calls, the first complaint would invite warning plus a Rs500 fine and disconnection on the third instance of violation of regulatory norms, according to sources quoted by The Indian Express newspaper.

These measures form part of the draft "Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference (Tenth Amendment) Regulations, 2012", which proposes that operators take an undertaking from consumers, at the time of purchase, that the SIM purchased shall not be used for telemarketing purpose.

Under the proposals consumers are also encouraged to lodge complaints of such communication by sending an SMS to 1909, while asking telecom operators to inform subscribers through text messages at least twice a year against sending any commercial communication to others.

In addition to the draft regulations, TRAI also issued a consultation paper on review of measures taken for curbing unwanted commercial calls prescribing further measures. The consultation paper calls for providers to have a mechanism in place to block the delivery of unsolicited SMSes with similar signatures from the source which sends more than a specified number of promotional SMSes per hour.

According to the paper, the operators would need to get an undertaking from transactional message sending entities that they would use only registered telemarketers for their promotional activities.