Telecom operators Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea and Tata Communications have urged Trai to continue the 50 Paise Per Spam SMS rule to eliminate spam messages from telemarketers who are not registered. Trai rolled out the regime back in 2012 and mandated that Rs 50 Paise per SMS will be charged after 100 SMS per day and per SIM. Telecom operators addressed their views in a virtual open house discussion which was conducted by Trai amid the virus outbreak and lockdown period.
Trai Regime of 50 Paise Per Spam SMS will Burn Bridges for Unregistered Telemarketers
As per the telecom operators, 54th Amendment of Telecom Tariff Order will burn the bridges for telemarketers who have not been registered, and it will also discourage unsolicited commercial communication (UCC). Since the present rule lacks enough disincentives to push back the unregistered telemarketers, Trai must not lift the regime. Rajan Mathews, who is the director general of COAI, stated that financial disincentive must be present for the unregistered telemarketers who are trying to break into the system and annoy the users with spam messages. This news is reported by ET Telecom.
Complaints of UCC were Rising Even After Trai 50 Paise Per SMS Regime
Trai stated that even the 50 Paise Per Spam SMS regime is being followed, customers are still complaining about the unsolicited commercial communication. To curb the spam traffic by unregistered telemarketers, Trai already asked telcos to follow the DLT technology. Messaging Services director Anurag Aggarwal marked that Trai must note lift the disincentive of 50 paise per SMS regime as DLT technology is still under working and no other financial disincentive is present to curb the spam traffic from, uninvited telemarketers.
Railways are Paying Rs 2 crore for Non-commercial SMSes
Umesh Balonda, who is the Executive Director, Telecom Development Ministry of Railways, stated that Railways are facing financial distress from the restriction as they are paying a massive amount of Rs 2 crore for non-commercial SMSes. Also, the Railway Department’s service provider is charging 50 paise per SMS related to security and safety purpose. Nearly, 7,500 SIMS used by Railways for non-commercial purposes are paying 50 paise per SMS to providers.
