If consumer complaints about unconfirmed activation of mobile value added services in India, it would appear that things are back to their fraudulent worst. Data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India indicates that complaints about activation without user consent have increased to a level much beyond what they were before TRAI instituted a double confirmation regime for activation. We did the math: 1. Average number of complaints has gone up Average complaints about MVAS activation between June and September 2014 were 31% higher than between April and July 2013, which is just before the TRAI regulations preventing false activation were instituted. For January to April 2014, the number of complaints were even higher, up 41% from April to July 2013. IMPORTANT: if services or packs have been activated without consent for you, you can request deactivation by dialling a common toll free number, 155223. 2. Actual complaints have gone up The averages were calculated on the basis of historical TRAI data (here), and it's evident that the number of complaints being filed against activation without consent have gone up since before the TRAI regulations, peaking at 131,816 complaints in August 2014. For the data that we have, the highest number of complaints were in June last year, at 104,996. It's worth noting that for each month, between February and August 2014, the number of complaints were higher than this. 3. 1 million complaints over the last 9 months: To be specific, 1,044,776 complaints. Download: MediaNama’s Recommendations to TRAI on Mobile VAS…
