India’s TRAI Cracks Down on Spam Calls from Unregistered Telemarketers
New Delhi [India], August 13: In a major step to curb the increasing number of spam calls, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has mandated all service providers to stop voice promotional calls from unregistered senders or telemarketers. This includes pre-recorded or computer-generated calls.
Recently, promotional voice calls from unregistered marketers have become a significant nuisance. On Tuesday, the Ministry of Communications issued directions for access service providers. The ministry stated that all promotional voice calls from unregistered senders or telemarketers using telecom resources must be stopped immediately.
If any unregistered sender is found misusing telecom resources for commercial voice calls, resulting in consumer complaints, their telecom resources will be disconnected by the access provider for up to two years. Additionally, such senders will be blacklisted for up to two years.
The ministry added, “Information regarding blacklisting of the sender shall be shared by the OAP with all other access providers on the DLT platform within 24 hours. These providers will then disconnect all telecom resources given to that sender within the next 24 hours.”
No new telecom resources will be allocated to blacklisted senders during the blacklisting period. All access providers have been directed to comply with these directives and submit regular updates on the actions taken on the 1st and 16th of every month.
This action by TRAI is expected to significantly reduce spam calls and provide relief to consumers.
Doubts Revealed
TRAI -: TRAI stands for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. It is a government body that makes rules for telephone and internet services in India.
Spam Calls -: Spam calls are unwanted phone calls that try to sell you something or trick you. They can be very annoying.
Unregistered Telemarketers -: Unregistered telemarketers are people or companies that make sales calls without official permission. They are not following the rules set by TRAI.
Ministry of Communications -: The Ministry of Communications is a part of the Indian government that looks after communication services like telephones and the internet.
Telecom Resources -: Telecom resources are things like phone lines and internet connections that telemarketers use to make calls.
Blacklisted -: Blacklisted means being put on a list of people or companies that are not allowed to do something, like making calls, for a certain time.