I just called to say, I will haunt you

Registering with the TRAI's Do Not Call Registry doesn't guarantee you freedom from unwanted commercial calls and SMSes. The telecom regulatory authority claims the service is working. MiD DAY digs into ground reality

Registering with the TRAI's Do Not Call Registry doesn't guarantee you freedom from unwanted commercial calls and SMSes. The telecom regulatory authority claims the service is working. MiD DAY digs into ground reality

Thirty-something Rohit Sinha, working with an IT MNC in Gurgaon, has permanently put his mobile phone on the silent mode.

Though this mute decision has resulted in many embarrassing situations when he has missed important calls, Sinha doesn't want to rethink it.

He says he would go to any extent to stay away from telemarketers and insists he doesn't have faith in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) National Do Not Call (NDNC) Registry service.
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"I have a Vodafone connection and I registered with NDNC two years ago. But even today I receive three to four calls and six to seven SMSes everyday. There is no use of this service," said Sinha.

Disillusioned

Sinha, however, is not alone. Sudheendra M, a businessman from Bangalore, is another victim. "I registered with the NDNC service more than a year ago but it doesn't work.
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I still receive unwanted calls," said Sudheendra. Though he is aware he can register a complaint, Sudheendra is too disillusioned with the system to do so.

TRAI's claims

Though there are thousands like Sinha and Sudheendra across the country, TRAI claims there has been a significant reduction in the number of telemarketing calls subscribers registered with NDNC receive.

Data provided by TRAI states that in the past six months, around 81,000 complaints were received by various mobile phone service providers out of which, more than 79,000 have been addressed and only around 1,600 are pending.

"Considering that more than 37.70 million subscribers are registered with NDNC, the number of complaints constitutes only 0.44 per cent of the total," said a senior TRAI official, wishing anonymity.

TRAI also claims that till September 2008, 10,151 telephones of telemarketers were disconnected on account of repeated violation of the regulation on the subject.

And 8,543 telemarketers were fined Rs 500, and 2,801 fined Rs 1,000 each for violation of NDNC rules.

However, TRAI admitted that some registered subscribers continue to receive unwanted calls. "Efforts are being made by TRAI and other stakeholders to achieve near-zero tolerance in handling non-compliant telemarketers.
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TRAI has also issued show-cause notices to service providers for not taking action against guilty marketing firms," the official said.

Service providers' stake

Meanwhile, mobile phone service providers say they support the NDNC service but don't fail to point out its loopholes as well.

"About 10 per cent of our 45 million subscribers have subscribed for the NDNC service.

The service is effective but there are minor deviations like if someone has registered with a club and the party is not registered with us, the consumer will continue to receive calls from them," said Chief Corporate Affairs' officer of Idea Cellular, Rajat Mukarji.

Airtel's spokesperson Abhinandan Saikia said, "Airtel has almost 11 million customers registered with NDNC and we receive over 17,000 fresh registrations every day.

We actively support the NDNC initiative."Service providers maintain that telemarketers and the companies they promote need to understand and follow TRAI's regulations.

"Not only will this help them focus their efforts towards a more receptive audience, it will also help them reduce operating costs.
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Telecom operators cannot tackle this issue single-handedly. While customer feedback indicates there has been a significant improvement over the past year, there is still a long way to go," said Saikia.
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For details, check ndncregistry.gov.in.

With inputs from Amit Singh & Swati Kumari in Delhi, Balaji Narasimhan in Bangalore, Kaumudi Gujjar in Pune, and Aditya Anand in Mumbai

How to do it

A mobile or landline subscriber who does not wish to receive telemarketing calls, can request his or her telephone number be included in the NDNC registry.

Such requests are sent through telecom service providers, and are stored in the registry. Subscribers can make a Do Not Call request via letter, phone, SMS or online.

The telephone number 1909 is designated for registering requests in the registry. Registrations can be done either by calling or sending SMSes with the keywords START DND to 1909.

Telephone calls and SMSes to this number are free of cost. The telecom service provider will acknowledge the request within ten days.
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Requests will become effective within 45 days from the date of request. You can SMS STOP DND for de-registration.

37.7 ml
No of subscribers registered with NDNC till June 8, 2009

Most NDNC subscribers are not aware that if they complain against an unsolicited call, TRAI immediately fines the telemarketing firm. Sadly, though inconvenienced, the subscriber doesn't get a penny of the fine collected

Ankur Agarwal, Delhi
I had subscribed to the NDNC service to block calls of banks. But it didn't work. I still receive these calls. I finally gave up

Rajiv B R, Mumbai
I get unwanted calls from my service provider. The telemarketers have been calling me in violation of TRAI guidelines

Sameer Godse, Pune
I receive commercial SMSes even after registering my number with NDNC. I also continue to receive calls selling various financial schemes

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