No respite from pesky calls, SMSes

NEW DELHI, INDIA: The ministry of communications lauds decline in complaints

following the regulatory communiqué, but the reality is little different. Despite TRAI’s check on commercial communications, the companies and VAS providers are finding newer tactics to flout norms!

There is apparently no respite from the unsolicited communications, and 700 million subscribers continue to get pesky SMSes. However, the minister of state for communications, Milind Deora, in a reply to Rajya Sabha recently said there was a decline in complaints.

CIOL has learnt that some of the companies are flouting the regulator’s guidelines and sending pesky SMSes via Internet Service Providers (ISPs) as well as from other networks in various Southeast Asian countries.

Speaking to CIOL, R Chandrashekhar, secretary, Ministry of Communications and IT, said that TRAI issues guidelines from time to time, and derived this new regulation from the previous learning.

“There are some people who try to circumvent these regulations, and have reports that such SMSes are being sent from the Internet,” he said. The ministry has said that if the origin of pesky communication is traced then it can be controlled and action could be taken as per law.

Chandrashekhar believes that tracing the origin while regulating the undesired communication is a challenge, and hence it would be little difficult to curtail the menace.