Ridiculous: TRAI Postpones Do Not Call Regulations Indefinitely

By Anupam Saxena on Mar 21st, 2011 |

9 Comments

After extending the date for the implementation of the SMS Spam Regulations to 21st March 2011 in the last amendment, the TRAI has postponed it indefinitely. In the explanatory memorandum to this fifth amendment, The TRAI blames the Department of Telecom(DoT), which was suppose to allocate a separate number series for telemarketers using the fixed line network, for not being able to do so. It says, that since no time frame has been specified by DoT for the rollout of the new series, the TRAI cannot give a conclusive date for the implementation of the regulations.

Nikhil adds: This is just ridiculous. If the TRAI is the body that is mandated to issues such regulations, then it should either have the authority to allocate numbers and follow through with its regulations, or knowing that it doesn’t have the authority, should have gotten the Department of Telecom clearance before issuing regulations. All they did was create false hope and false panic in the market: first they issued regulations not taking into account the time it would take for systems to be put into place for the rollout (the TRAI website for telemarketers to get the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR) was not ready), creating panic in the industry, because of the speed at which changes would have had to be made.

Since then, they’ve repeatedly postponed the implementation of the regulations for one reason or another, the latest being the allocation of “140 series” numbers to landline telemarkets. On the other hand, the DoT appears to be delaying decisions and implementation, like in case of Mobile Number Portability. In the meantime, given that these guidelines have been delayed indefinitely, the spammers will return, and customers will suffer. Just because government departments couldn’t get regulations sorted out in time. In our opinion, this is either a case of incompetence, or someone is pulling strings. What else could it be?

Details: Regulations Amendment

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Category : Government, News, Telecom Operators, TRAI | Tags : SMS Spam

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Anonymous

I see a clear lack of understanding of the issues arising due to spam, and options it has. It may not be an outright incompetence issue, but some people certainly had a lot to gain from postponing the regulation. So, it is a little of both, and occurs more like confusion.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=540695410 Piyush Ranjan

TRAI cannot have authority to issue number series because it is a regulatory body just for mobile service providers. DOT is responsible for all forms of communications in the country. What industry are you so concerned about ? The SPAM industry ?
http://www.medianama.com Nikhil Pahwa

Hi Piyush, there’s a legitimate SMS content industry as well, sites like MyToday. There are important enterprise services that use SMS for alerts, when servers are down. Brokers send information to customers when stocks hit certain triggers. TRAI created panic in this industry with its guidelines, which set very short timelines.

My point is that if the TRAI knew did didn’t have the authority to issue numbers, it should have discussed it with DoT, got the DoT’s approval and the number allocation closed *before* issuing the guidelines. This way, it reflects poorly on both the DoT and the TRAI.
Ashwin

Don’t blame TRAI for this every one knew the recommendation made by them cannot be implemented it easily , it is way beyond the scope of many players . I have been in this business, I feel lot of lobbying might have done by operators who mint money due to this business . Operators want this kind of business to thrive .
http://www.marketvision.in Deepak Shenoy

I agree. So we continue to pay for incoming SMSes while roaming, evidently because the TRAI can’t get its act together in *any* timeframe. After delaying stuff for 3 weeks at a time and giving us all hope, TRAI wants to put everything in cold storage with a silly reason. That’s obviously not the reason; someone from the industry said, this TRAI business will not work. Only if the cabinet lights a fire will something happen. What can you expect from the kind of government this is proving to be, anyway.
http://twitter.com/venkatasatishg venkat_9099

WTF
Ashish Player

DOT should have done it earlier, after many days this kind of an UPDATE will not be appreciated. Giving series to telemarketers is the only option.
http://www.facebook.com/mayur.name Mayur Shah

guys please sign this petition to register your opposition to Govt. of India & get this crap removed. http://www.petitiononline.com/no100sms/petition.html

the 100 sms per day rule is not postponed yet.
http://www.facebook.com/mayur.name Mayur Shah

guys please sign this petition to register your opposition to Govt. of India & get this crap removed. http://www.petitiononline.com/no100sms/petition.html

the 100 sms per day rule is not postponed yet.

Ridiculous: TRAI Postpones Do Not Call Regulations Indefinitely

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