Guidelines have been issued by the government and telecom operators have been asked to stop promotional calls till the end of the month. In case of not doing so, heavy fine will be imposed.
Many times, when you pick up a call from an unknown number, you realize that it is a promotional call. Annoyance occurs when you are doing some important work or driving. Now necessary steps have been taken by the government to free the subscribers from promotional calls. Telecom operators have been asked to curb promotional calls by this month and in case of failure to do so, huge fines will be imposed.
Two people associated with the matter have said that in case of making promotional calls from unregistered mobile numbers, they will be fined and the calls being made on their behalf will be considered a part of unfair trade practice. This is the first time that penalty has been imposed on telecom operators for violating the privacy and rights of customers. It is hoped that in such a situation, promotional calls can be controlled.
Millions of unregistered calls are made now
A number of promotional calls are currently being made to mobile subscribers from unregistered 10 digit numbers owned by individuals and commercial messages are being sent through them. However, these numbers are not registered for commercial use and should not be used for promotional calls. Now action will be taken against those who do so.
The decision to impose heavy fine on telecom companies was taken after a meeting held with stakeholders last week. People associated with the Department of Telecommunications, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Airtel, Vodafone and Reliance Jio participated in this meeting.
All together have decided to follow the rules of the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), which directly supports the Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA).
Action will be taken due to Consumer Protection Act
The draft guidelines state that companies that profit from unregistered calls will be held responsible. In the draft, the callers have been considered as commission agents, who may be associated with different banks, insurance companies and real-estate firms.
Telecom operators have been asked to show the identity of such calls so that customers can decide whether to receive the call or not.
