MUMBAI, INDIA: Finally, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) latest regulations to protect consumers against spam SMSes and unwanted calls comes into effect on Tuesday. It restricts telemarketers to calling people between 9 pm and 9 am with a cap of 100 SMSes per day.

These regulations put a major brake on how business organizations have been reaching out to potential customers, generating leads and marketing products and services in the past.

The norms impose heavy penalty in case of breach of rules. If the consumer files a complaint on receiving any spam SMS or calls, the firm will have to pay a penalty of Rs. 25,000 and subsequently, it will go up to Rs. 2.5 lakh with a two-year ban.

Given this situation, it becomes mandatory for businesses to adhere to these regulatory norms, while continuing with their business.

In this scenario, Bangalore-based ZipDial Mobile Solutions Pvt Ltd has developed a product that allows businesses to continue with their services at reduced operational costs, while following the norms.

"We launched the service in March, when the TRAI regulation was first supposed to be enforced. Since then, we have got good response from customers from across various domains. Not only does the service comply with the TRAI regulations, but also lowers the drop-out rate compared to SMS-based verifications, since there is no delay in delivery, which is usually the case with SMSes," Valerie R Wagoner, ZipDial's chief executive officer, said.

ZipDial has developed a patent-pending technology based on the concept on ZipDial or toll-free dialing that offers a mobile platform for engaging customers and businesses.

"While businesses carry out marketing campaigns, they ask customers to SMS or call to generate leads. We can place a zipDial or toll-free number instead of the SMS number and it can generate double to 20 times higher responses," Wagoner said.

For instance, ZipDial asks the customer to enter his/her mobile number on a website, which leads the customer to a ZipDial number. It allows instant verification of customers' mobile numbers and can be used for account registration, login, transaction confirmation, lead verification, authenticated voting, etc.

While ZipDial to Connect works on the concept of "on-demand", employing which businesses can exhibit ZipDial number in ads or campaigns.

So, when the customer gives a missed call, he or she can get a desired instant info or response via SMS, call-back or media.