TRAI :- Harassment through Unregistered Telemarketers

New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS) The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has cautioned banks and financial institutions against use of unregistered telemarketers for promoting their business, an official said Monday.

"The authority has taken a series of measures for addressing the menace of Unsolicited Commercial Communications. However, notwithstanding the action taken by TRAI, a large number of complaints continued to be received from consumers regarding calls/SMSs originated by unregistered telemarketers on behalf of banks, insurance companies, builders etc. for promoting their business in utter disregard to the regulations issued by the authority," a TRAI spokesperson said here.

The TRAI has said such behaviour of these banks and companies is in violation of "The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Thirteenth Amendment) Regulations, 2010", which provides that in case complaints continue to come in, then on receipt of the third complaint, all the telecom resources of the entity or organization shall be disconnected.

The TRAI has named such banks and financial institutions which have been flouting the aforesaid regulation by marketing their products and services through unregistered telemarketers. These banks or financial institutions are - Axis Bank, Citi Bank, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Kotak Mahindra, Punjab National Bank and State Bank of India.

These institutions have been directed to look into the specific cases of breach, initiate corrective action and report back to the authority within a period of seven days, failing which the banks are liable to have all their telecom resources disconnected throughout the country.

TRAI/DND/Register DND or De-Register DND mobile SMS services

       Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)  has stopped to all SMS service provider to send commercial  SMS to those numbers who are registered in DND.   Group SMS is also restricted by TRAI.  In the interest of customer , it is necessary to know how a customer or phone user can Register himself for DND (Do Not Disturb) service or De-Register for DND service. 

Registration Process :-


Register for DND Service            Dial or SMS to 1909 (toll free)
                                                   example of SMS write START DND and send it to 1909

De-Register for DND Service      Dial or SMS to 1909 (toll free)
                                                   example of SMS write STOP DND and send it to 1909

SMS for Registration                   a) write "START  0" and send it to 1909 for fully blocked category.
                                                   b) write "START" and send it to 1909 for one or multiple options from
                                                          the list of seven categories.
List of Seven Categories            

1. Banking/Insurance/Financial Products/Credit Cards-1,
2. Real Estate-2,
3. Education-3, 
4. Health -4, 
5. Consumer goods and Automobiles-5, 
6. Communication/Broadcasting/Entertainment/IT-6, 
7. Tourism-7.

(Example :- for Starting SMS from Banking/Insurance/Financial Products/Credit-Cards  write 'START 1' and send it to 1909.)

on successful registration, customer will receive an SMS for confirmation of registration alongiwith Unique Registration Number with in 24 hours. Registration process take time for 7 days and customer can check his registration status at any time.  "Check Registration Status  Here"

In case customer feels that there is no effect of registration with in 7 days , he may also lodge complaint through dialing 1909 or through SMS to 1909.  

• Customer has to send SMS  COMP Tel No  xxxxxxxxxx, dd/mm/yy, Time hh:mm to 1909. 
• Value of xxxxxxxxxx stands for Telephone Number or header of the SMS,
• Action on your complaint will be taken within 7 days of lodging of complaint and customer can  "Check UCC Complaint Registration Status  Here"

200 Mobile SMS from one Sim

It is good news for Mobile users that TRAI has extended the limit of 100 SMS per day per SIM to 200 SMS per day per SIM.  Earlier  a limit of SMS was fixed only 100 SMS per day per SIM, now it has been increased by TRAI  to 200 SMS per day per SIM.

The detailed information as circulated vias Press Release No. 53/2011 is given below :-

Information note to the Press (Press Release No. 53 /2011) 

   

For Immediate Release

Telecom Regulatory Authority Of India

TRAI extends the 100 SMS per day per SIM limit to 200 SMS per day per SIM. 

New Delhi, 1st November, 2011:  All the provisions of  “The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2010” issued have come into force from 27th  September 2011.  

2. The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer  Preference Regulations  provide a restriction that no Access Provider shall permit sending of more than one hundred SMS per day per SIM except telemarketer or transactional message sending entity. The Authority has received representations from some of the service providers and consumers to increase the limit of 100 SMS per day per SIM. The Authority has considered these representations and decided to increase the limit of one hundred SMS per day per SIM to two hundred SMS per day per SIM. 

3. The  “The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2010” and Direction are available on TRAI website http://www.trai.gov.in.

Contact Details in case of any clarifications 

A. Robert J. Ravi, Advisor (QoS&SP),  

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India   

MahanagarDoorsancharBhawan,  

JawaharLal Nehru Marg, New Delhi-110 002  

Tel.: 011-23230404 

Fax: 011- 23213036 

E-mail : advqos@trai.gov.in 2 

Authorised to issue  

A. Robert J. Ravi  

Advisor (QoS& SP)

Free Roaming in India on Mobile

It is good news for Mobile users that mobile portability in India will be free.  Earlier this facility is available only in region.  Now telecom operators can use a single licence for operations in various parts of the India.   There will be no difference between Local and STD calls, as the Policy aims at a 'One-Nation-One-Licence' regime. 

Hon'ble Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal has said that "We will seek Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendations on new licences, migration to new licences and exit pocliy." while releasing the draft policy. 

In the wake of the 2G scam, the minister said spectrum allocation would be delinked from licences and radiowaves would be made available at market-determined prices.

As the market is crowded with too many players, the government would also bring an exit policy.

With regard to spectrum, Sibal said the government would provide a roadmap for additional spectrum availability every five years and also make its periodic audit mandatory to ensure that the scarce resource is used efficiently.

The draft NTP has also set an ambitious target of providing broadband services on demand by 2015 with a target of 600 million such high-speed Internet connections by 2020.

The draft NTP has went to the extent of likening the broadband connectivity to basic necessities like health and education and proposes to work towards a 'Right to Broadband' for every citizen.

The policy has also called for providing by the year 2015, the 'Broadband on Demand' services, which would enable affordable, across-the-country, round-the-clock and high-speed Internet connectivity to the users.

"The primary objective of National Telecom Policy (NTP)-2011 is maximising public good by making available affordable, reliable and secure telecommunication and broadband services across the entire country," Sibal said.

The draft NTP-2011 aims to achieve 175 million broadband connections by the year 2017 and 600 million by the year 2020.

It also aims to converge mobile telephony, multimedia and broadcast services, to offer superior experience to customers.

"We want to reposition the mobile phone from a mere communication device to an instrument of empowerment that combines communication, with proof of identity, fully secure financial and other transaction capabilities, multi-lingual services and a whole range of other capabilities that ride on them and transcend the literacy barrier," Sibal said.(ST-10/10)