Govt seeks report on pesky phone calls

TELECOM TALE

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has directed all service providers to comply with the regulations on pesky calls and discontinue the phone connections of non-registered tele-marketing companies by October 19.

The operators shall not provide telecom resources to non-registered telemarketing companies and in this regard all licencees are required to ensure that the directive is complied with, a DoT letter said.

A compliance report in the matter must be submitted within a month of issue of this directive, the DoT said. The letter was issued on September 19.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) last week had asked the banks and their associates not to engage unregistered telemarketers, a move that is expected to reduce the number of unsolicited calls.

The DoT has also asked operators to publicise the facility of ‘National Do Not Call Registry’ among the general public. The slogan for it, the DoT said, is “To avoid unwanted telemarketing calls, register your telephone number in NDNC Registry — call 1909 or send SMS ‘START DND’ on 1909”.

In fact, with complaints against ineffectiveness of the ‘National Do Not Call Registry’ rising, the DoT is now mulling over turning it into ‘Do Call Registry’.