TRAI cracks whip on erred telemarketing firms

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has disconnected over 72,000 telephone connections of registered telemarketers and over 118,000 of unregistered telemarketing companies for breaching guidelines related to commercial calls and messages up to May 2011.

“TRAI monitors the compliance to regulations and take the action in case any violation is observed,” said Milind Deora, minister of state for Communications and IT, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.

“TRAI has issued regulations and direction from time to time to prevent unsolicited commercial communications,” he added.

The minister also said that while the number of telemarketers who have been charged with higher tariff of Rs. 500 during the period under review has been over 87,000, those who have been charged with higher tariff of Rs.1,000 has been over 41,000.

On an average, approximately 47,454 complaints per month are being registered in this regard.

TRAI has issued regulations and direction from time to times to prevent pesky calls and messages.

Last year, the telecom watchdog announced a set of new measures to curb unsolicited commercial calls and messages, which were to be implemented from January 1. This was extended to March 1 and then to March 21.

The regulations include a fine ranging from Rs.25,000 to Rs.250,000 for the defaulting companies.

Unlike the previous regulation that asked customers to register their numbers in 'do not call' list, users can now choose from different categories like 'fully blocked' or 'partially blocked', under which a customer can receive communication for categories of his choice.