Trai directs telcos to submit unregistered telemarketers data based on consumer complaints
2024-08-02Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in its effort to curb spam, particularly robocalls, has instructed all the telecom companies to submit data about unregistered telemarketers based on the complaints they have received from consumers in the April-June quarter. Thousands of robocalls are being received by the telecom consumers every day from unregistered entities or telemarketers. The government has earmarked the 140 series for telemarketers for making promotional calls, but a majority of spam calls come from the normal 10-digit numbers, making it difficult for consumers to identify.
As per news report, Trai officials said that consumers have filed complaints about robocalls and the regulator is going to take action against those who are found to be involved in making those calls. "We have asked for data from the telecom firms. We have also shared some numbers, which have been reported by consumers for making robocalls," an official said.
This exercise will identify the culprits and appropriate action will be taken against them, he said.
As per experts, unscrupulous agents usually take a primary rate interface (PRI) service from telcos, which provides them 32 connections at one go. Taking 10 or more PRI service gives them a bouquet of 320 numbers, which are then put on a robotic dialler, which continuously keeps calling people. Even in case a number is blocked by a consumer, other numbers from the same PRI calls the customer again.
The telecom department has restricted the number of connections to nine for an individual whereas corporate users can take as many numbers as required for their needs.
The officials also said that many such numbers are misused to make spam calls. Trai has also highlighted various numbers, like the ones that start with 731 and 129, which have been reported by consumers as spam.
"A telemarketer is not allowed to make such robocalls using the normal 10-digit numbers. But unauthorised entities have been making such calls in large numbers, which needs to be stopped," another official said.
In its directions issued on July 24, the regulator has directed all the telecom firms to provide details of the top 25 senders in terms of the complaints recorded against them during the April-June period. While the telcos were required to submit details within five days, more time has been sought to make the data available.
Even though Trai and DoT and the consumer affairs ministry have been working in tandem to curb spam calls, desired success is not achieved yet. Industry executives feel the deterrent measures are not strong enough to check the menace. Currently, an unauthorised telemarketer who is found to be violating the rules is blacklisted for two years and there is no criminal liability.
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