Pesky callers face action: 28,000 numbers disconnected, 44,000 under notice

The government told Parliament today that some 28,000 mobile phone lines of telemarketers had been disconnected as of 24 April; and more than 44,000 notices have been to others for sending pesky calls and messages.

"The government is aware that several calls and SMSs are being sent from private numbers by subscribers not registered as a telemarketer,'' communications minister Kapil Sibal said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha. He said 44,810 notices have been issued to unregistered telemarketers and 27,984 telephones have been disconnected since the enforcement of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations on 27 September last year.

Almost since the start of mobile telephony in India, subscribers have complained of unsolicited calls ('cold calling' in marketing parlance) and messages pushing products and services in which they have no interest.

Insurance companies and lenders, particularly the privately-owned banks and non-banking finance companies, are major offenders in this regard, as this writer has noted.

The new regulation promulgated by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India gives phone users a choice of what messages if any they prefer to receive. According to the TRAI guidelines, if marketing calls and messages are sent through individual numbers, a notice will be issued to the sender. The number will be disconnected on a second violation.

Penalties range from Rs25,000 to Rs2.5 lakh; and six violations would result in permanent suspension of the number.