Unsolicited calls will invite Rs 500 penalty - Video

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has decided to levy a fine of Rs 500 for every unsolicited call or SMS sent by a telemarketer. Further, the telemarketer could face disconnection of services.

Trai has also mandated National Informatics Centre (NIC) to set up a National Do Not Call (NDNC) registry in three months' time.

It has also sought the help of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks' Association (IBA) to ensure that telemarketers are engaged after registering with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).

In a release issued today, Trai said a fine of Rs 500 will be levied on telemarketers for every call or SMS sent to numbers registered with the NDNC. The regulator also defined unsolicited commercial calls as any message that the "subscriber opts not to receive", but with certain exceptions.

The regulator has exempted messages relating to financial transactions under specific contracts (between the caller and a party), charities, national campaigns, natural calamities transmitted under government directions, among others.

TRAI, through this regulation, has also called for setting up a national database that contains a telephone numbers of subscribers who do not want to receive the telemarketing calls.

The regulator is contracting the setting up of the NDNC to NIC, which will develop and maintain the registry.

Telecom service providers are required to set up the call centres with toll free telephone lines to which a subscriber can call to register his name and number. The registry should be periodically updated by the service providers, it said.