Crores of mobile users in the country are soon going to get relief from unwanted marketing calls. The government has made preparations for this. The Consumer Ministry may issue guidelines for this next month. Guidelines to curb unwanted marketing calls are being drafted. A senior official of the Consumer Ministry has confirmed this. Recently TRAI has also issued several guidelines to stop fake calls.
Ongoing preparation of new guidelines
Consumer Affairs Secretary Nidhi Khare has said that the department is preparing draft consultation guidelines with stakeholders regarding this. After the draft is ready, it will be shared with the telecom regulator. On the occasion of National Consumer Day, Nidhi Khare said that we have drafted guidelines to stop unwanted marketing calls. It will be shared with TRAI next month.
In view of the complaints received from users, the Department of Telecommunications needs to implement strict rules to stop unwanted marketing calls. The guidelines being prepared by the Consumer Ministry will determine the roles and responsibilities of business entities. To protect the interests of consumers, TRAI and the Consumer Ministry will jointly implement these guidelines within the existing framework.
Control on fake calls and messages
TRAI had issued new guidelines in August this year to curb fake calls and messages. These guidelines of TRAI have been implemented in a phased manner. In October, unsolicited communication rules were implemented to curb fake messages. At the same time, rules to block SMS from unregistered entities have been implemented from December 11. The telecom regulator has directed telecom companies to introduce AI systems to stop fake calls and messages at the network level. Airtel has launched AI based technology, through which millions of messages and calls were blocked.
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