Sept 27: Goodbye pesky calls, SMSes

The government on Tuesday brought into force a regulation barring commercial calls and messages, giving relief to mobile subscribers nagged by the telemarketing companies. To avail the service, customers will have to get themselves registered with the National Customer Preference Registry, earlier known as "National Do Not Call Registry", by dialing toll free number 1909. They can also send a SMS message. The regulation limits an individual customer from sending more than 100 messages in a day. This restriction will not be applicable on festival days. "The first step has been taken but the more important challenge will be that we are able to implement it as well," said Kapil Sibal, minister of communications. The regulation includes a fine ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 250,000 for defaulting companies. This can be imposed six times. If violations persist, the company will be blacklisted for two years. According to reports, while the number of pesky calls has fallen lately, messages are still a menace. On an average, as many as 47,454 complaints a month are registered. The department of telecom ( DoT) has provided '140' number series to be allocated to telemarketers for a fixed line network. Access providers have to make relevant provisions in their network before allocation of resources to telemarketers using '140' numbering series from fixed line network. Unlike the previous regulation that asked customers to register their numbers in "Do Not Call" list, the new one allows customers to choose from different categories like "Fully blocked" or "Partially blocked".