The government announced yesterday, that it has formed a committee to form guidelines to address the issue of promotional tor unsolicited calls that consumers receive as it violates privacy.
Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh chaired the meeting to discuss the aforementioned issue.
The panel comprises of members of the cellular industry as well as regulatory bodies including the Department of Telecommunication (DoT), Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Reserve Bank of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), and Cellular Operations Association of India (COAI), amonilatg other telemarketing companies to discuss and draft relevant guidelines.
The meeting’s statement said, “It was observed that these calls not only violate the privacy of users but also the rights of the consumers. Most of such calls are from the financial services sector followed by real estate.”
Spam callers are now switching to internet calls, by using modes like WhatsApp to lure customers into Ponzi schemes, job opportunities and crypto investments.
Regulatory bodies have been taking step in order to solve the issue. The DoT and TRAI have made efforts towards it. Telemarketers have been advised to get their business entity, sender IDs and SMS templates on DLT platforms.
DLT (distributed ledger technology) platforms are operator-run portals where businesses need to register by providing their details.
The TRAI has released guidelines for the bulk SMS industry. The objective of the TRAI DLT regulations is to increase transparency in the system and counter the spam issue.
The statement further read, “During the meeting, it was observed all the Telemarketers from various sectors viz banking and financial services, real estate, e-commerce platforms and other commercial entities have already been advised to get 140 number series prefixed to their phone number so that a consumer can identify the caller.”