Trai says bids to curb pesky calls, SMSs successful

Trai had asked banks and financial institutions to check unsolicited calls and SMSes

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Wednesday said attempts to curb unsolicited commercial calls and messages have been successful during the past year.

The number of complaints from consumers regarding unsolicited commercial calls and messages had drastically come down to about 11,000 a month in 2013 from about 41,000 a month in 2012, Trai Secretary Rajeev Agrawal said.

A few months back, Trai decided to impose heavy penalties on telecom operators and had asked banks and financial institutions to check unsolicited calls and SMSs. Trai had in August come out with a rule that phone connections of banks, insurance firms and realty players would be disconnected if rules on unsolicited calls and messages were not followed.

It had also reduced the limit of concessional SMSs to 100 a day for each SIM card, as part of its strategy to restrict unregistered telemarketers.

During 2013, the regulator had taken several steps to keep prices of mobile calls and SMSs down. It had also introduced special tariff options for roaming customers, and had given its suggestions to the Department of Telecommunications on nationwide mobile number portability.

According to Trai, mobile operators should be given six months for implementing nationwide mobile number portability. It had also given recommendations on valuation and reserve price of spectrum in the 1,800-MHz and 900-MHz bands for the auction scheduled in February. One of the key suggestions that created a debate in the industry was its suggestion to introduce a flat spectrum usage charge at three per cent of operators’ revenue, shifting from the present slab structure.

Digitisation of cable television was still under implementation. The regulator had in 2013 imposed a 12-minute-an-hour advertising cap on broadcasters.