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“Finally, the

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has


cracked down on telemarketing companies
providing major relief to mobile users from
unsolicited calls/SMSs.”
Introduction

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday imposed a hefty penalty of


up to Rs 2.50 lakh (Rs 250,000) on erring telemarketing companies which also face the
prospect of getting blacklisted.

The new guidelines would come into effect from January 1, 2011. Trai issued the new
regulations -- The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference
Regulations, 2010 -- which cover both commercial calls as well as SMSs.

To help unregistered subscribers identify commercial calls, telemarketers will be issued


a different set of numbers starting with '70'.

Action
No calls/SMS between 9 pm and 9 am

The regulations also mandate that no commercial communication, even for unregistered
customers, shall be sent between 9.00 pm and 9.00 am, so that customers are not
disturbed at night.

Unlike the previous Regulations which provided only for a Do Not Call Registry, the new
regulations provide a wide choice to the customer. He may choose to be under the 'fully
blocked' category which is akin to the Do Not Call Registry under the previous
regulations or he may choose the 'partially blocked' category, in which case he will
receive SMSs in the category/categories chosen by him.

There are seven categories from which the customer can choose:

1. Banking/insurance/financial products/credit cards


2. Real estate
3. Education
4. Health
5. Consumer goods and automobiles
6. Communication/broadcasting/entertainment/IT
7. Tourism and leisure

Wherever the customer is in the 'partially blocked' category, he shall not get any
commercial calls. The 'partially blocked' category is like a Do Call Registry. Thus, the
customer can either choose his categories (Do Call), or choose to be under the fully
blocked category (Do not Call) or not to register at all.

Act Info
Registration in just 7 days unlike 45 days previously

Customer registration will be effective within seven days of registration unlike in the past
when it used to be 45 days.

The customer can register by ringing up 1909 or sending SMS to 1909. This service will
be toll free and the customer will be given a registration number.

Customer currently on the NDNC register will continue to be registered under the 'fully
blocked' category and need no re-registration.

The procedure for registration of telemarketers with Trai has also been simplified. All
telemarketers now have the facility of registering online. They can also make payment
of the necessary fees either online or offline. The registration will be immediate on
payment of registration fee. Telemarketers currently registered with DoT should
reregister.

The scrubbing of numbers which used to be done by a centralised agency earlier,


causing delays and other difficulties, has now been replaced by a system where
telemarketers are required to scrub the data before sending the SMSs/making the calls
through their service providers' network.

Penalty

1st offence Rs 25K fine; 6th offence Rs 250,000 fine

In addition, it has also been made mandatory for the service providers to filter the data.
This two-stage screening is designed to stop any unsolicited calls/SMS.

The defaulting telemarketers will be liable to pay heavy penalties. The telemarketers are
required to enter into an agreement with the service provider before they get telecom
resources.

As part of the agreement, the telemarketers are required to commit that the following
amounts would be deducted from the security offered by them.

First offence Rs 25,000; second offence 75,000; third offence Rs 80,000; fourth offence
Rs 120,000; fifth offence Rs 150,000; and sixth offence Rs 250,000.

The service providers are required to deduct these amounts and deposit the same with
Trai.
Telemarketer can be blacklisted
In addition to being liable for deduction of security as indicated above, the telemarketer
will be blacklisted on commission of the sixth offence.

The telecom resources of the blacklisted telemarketer will be disconnected by all the
service providers and will not be restored for a period of two years.

The regulations also provide for an aggrieved customer to lodge complaint with his
service provider who is required to take appropriate action and inform the customer of
the action taken within seven days.

Concerns have been expressed about the telemarketing calls/SMSs from unregistered
telemarketers, who can be any of the 70 crore (700 million) subscribers.

With a simpler registration process, it is expected that all telemarketers will register
themselves with Trai.

Nevertheless, in order to minimise such instances, the Regulations provide that no


service provider shall provide packages containing more than 100 SMS per day.

The regulations also provide that in the event of such an Unsolicited Commercial
Communication (from an unregistered ordinary subscriber) he will be warned on the first
offence and his telephone disconnected on commission of the second offence.

Trai also expects that all industry and services associations will impress upon their
members not to utilise the services of unregistered telemarketers.

In order to facilitate communication between agencies having commercial transactions


with their clients, the regulations provide for transactional messages to be exempt.

Transactional messages are typically from banks/insurance companies or telecom


service providers giving information relating to their customers' accounts, or from
airlines/railways to their passengers regarding flight/train schedules, or from educational
institutions to the parents.
Transactional messages will however be only in the form of SMSs and that too
restricted to relevant information.

Call from numbers starting with '70' will be commercial calls

Promotional content in transactional messages will not be permitted.

A separate numbering series 70XXXXXXXX will be allocated for telemarketers, so that


all telemarketing calls can be easily identified.

Any call that comes from any number beginning with 70 will be a commercial call and
the customer has the choice of receiving or not receiving the call.

Therefore, even a customer who chooses not to register at all has a choice. Likewise, a
unique SMS header has been mandated for easy identification of commercial SMSs.

The regulations mandate that no commercial communication, even for unregistered


customers, shall be sent between 9.00 p.m. and 9.00 a.m., so as not to disturb the
customers at night.

Bharti chief finds these SMSs/calls pesky…………………….

Even Sunil Mittal, who owns India's largest mobile network Bharti Airtel, said on
Tuesday that the menace of pesky calls/SMSs not only irritates ordinary subscribers but
also spoils the business case for operators whose networks get clogged by such
unsolicited communications.

"I delete 25 SMSs a day and it is really a nuisance," Sunil Mittal said on the sidelines of
a function organised by the finance ministry on Tuesday.

In June 2007, TRAI had notified the Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communications
Regulations, 2007.

Despite various measures taken by the Authority for curbing Unsolicited Commercial
Communications, dissatisfaction on this account among telecom consumers continues.
Although the number of unsolicited commercial voice calls had decreased to some
extent, the number of unsolicited SMS had increased significantly causing
inconvenience to telecom customers.

In order to find a solution to this problem, Trai initiated consultation process in May
2010. After extensive discussions with all stakeholders, Trai on Wednesday issued The
Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations 2010.

Mumbai: Bigg Boss viewers and fans can now take a sigh of relief as Bombay High Court on
Friday ruled in the favor of the Colors TV for continuing the shooting of Bigg Boss at Lonavla.
The Bombay High Court dismissed the petition issued against the show by Lonavala Municipal
Council (LMC).

The division bench comprising Justice VC Daga and Justice RM Sawant ordered status quo and
granted the legal protection to the Colors TV against the notice issued by the Lonavla Municipal
Corporation to stop the Bigg Boss 4 shoot.

A source close to the channel confirmed saying, “In the judgement today, the court has ruled the
status quo on the shooting of Bigg Boss at Lonavla to be maintained, thus paving way for
millions of Bigg Boss viewers to continue to enjoy the show.”

The LMC ordered the Colors TV on Thursday to stop the shooting of “Bigg Boss-4″ and move
out of the premises as the channel’s documents were not in order. Thereafter, Colors filed a
petition with the High Court seeking a stay in the LMC order.

LMC had also pointed out that despite repeated reminders, the channel had not submitted the
requisite documents and maps of the property where the shooting was going on. Thus, the
permission and no objection certificate for the shooting could not be granted

Since its start, Bigg Boss 4 has faced so many jolts and in fact put question mark on the airing of
the show. The town has seen a shutdown, several protests by the Shiv Sena, against the
participation of Pakistanis in the show, which was followed by the blackout of the COLORS
channel in Mumbai

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