Come New Year,consumers would have a shield to protect themselves against unwanted commercial calls. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is all set to introduce a new foolproof mechanism to bar these irritable calls from January 1,2011. Under the new system,to be called Customer Call Preference Registration (CCPR) ,if a subscriber registers for not getting such calls and if a tele-marketer still tries to call the number,the call would be barred. Further,a new 70-series number would be given to all tele-marketers so that commercial calls can be clearly identified. Also,commercial calls would be categorised subscribers can either chose not to get any calls or select certain areas where they would like the calls to come. There would also be an option whether one wants calls or information only via messages. These measures are expected to be announced by Trai on November 30. This is how the system would work: Trai would give a list of registered tele-marketers and CCPR numbers to mobile operators. Each and every tele-marketer would then have to get registered with mobile operators. If at all,any tele-marketer tries calling a barred number,a unique software device would ensure that the call is barred and does not reach the subscriber. The tele-marketer concerned would then be fined and after the third instance of breach,its registration would be cancelled and the company would be blacklisted. Since tele-marketers buy bulk SMSs from mobile operators,as a further precaution,Trai has decided that nobody can send more than 100 SMSs in a day. Moreover,if any subscriber gets a call despite not asking for it,he can send an SMS to the operator and the tele-marketer's number would be blocked. The call barring mechanism is the innovative technological feature of the new system that would make the system work. The biggest problem with the current DNC is that subscribers keep getting such calls with tele-marketers violating the DNC registry by calling the barred numbers. Subscribers have no option but to follow the cumbersome process of complaining,which yields little result. Under the new system,calls would be barred to such subscribers. In cases of stray incidences,the new system it will also act as a major deterrence for those who try to look for some loopholes to bypass the system, a Trai official told FE. The other innovative feature of the new system is the new seventy-series numbers which would be given to tele-marketers. This would mean all commercial calls or messages would come from this series of numbers and would be easily identifiable. This would serve two purposes. One,even if a consumer wants the calls but does not want to take them at a particular time,he can easily disconnect them. Two,such calls can be avoided while a subscriber is in roaming. Under the present DNC,if a subscriber registers for not getting commercial calls,he is not supposed to get any calls or messages. Under the new mechanism,commercial calls would be categorised in four groups. Subscribers would have the option of,for instance,not getting calls but only text messages. If they chose getting calls or messages,they would have the option of opting for the kind of services the are interested in. For instance,a subscriber may not want calls or messages related to real estate services but may want those relating to consumer loans.Categorising such calls into services and giving the subscriber options make it more convenient for both the tele-marketers as well as subscribers, officials said.
