Government forms committee to combat pesky calls and draft guidelines

In a bid to address the issue of unwanted promotional calls, the Department of Consumer Affairs has formed a committee comprising representatives from various sectors including the cellular industry, regulatory bodies, and telecommunications companies. Chaired by Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary of DoCA, the committee convened on February 14 to discuss issues related to unsolicited commercial calls.

During the session, the committee delved into the concerns regarding privacy breaches and consumer rights violations caused by these intrusive calls. Financial services and real estate sectors were identified as the primary sources of such calls. Moreover, the meeting highlighted a worrisome trend wherein spam callers are increasingly resorting to internet-based platforms such as WhatsApp to lure individuals into fraudulent schemes, crypto investments, and job scams.

While recognizing the prior efforts of the Department of Telecommunications and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in addressing spam messages and pesky calls, the committee stressed the importance of telemarketers registering their business details, sender IDs, and SMS templates on Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platforms. These platforms, operated by major telecom providers including Airtel, Vodafone, Jio, and BSNL, aim to enhance transparency, combat SMS spam, and safeguard consumers against fraudulent activities.

As part of the recommendations, all telemarketers across various sectors such as banking, financial services, real estate, and e-commerce were advised to prefix their phone numbers with the 140 series. This measure enables consumers to identify the caller and exercise control over the types of calls or messages they wish to receive. However, concerns were raised regarding non-compliance by some unregistered telemarketers who continue to disregard these regulations.

The meeting saw participation from representatives of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), TRAI, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Vodafone, Airtel, and Reliance. The committee stressed the necessity for stringent adherence to these regulations by all telemarketers to create a more secure and consumer-friendly communication environment.