Monthly complaints against telemarketing calls drops sharply

"Prior to the coming into force of the regulations from September 27, 2011, on an average 47,454 complaints were received per month (averaged over the period March 2010 to March 2011)," Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

The total number of complaints lodged by telecom consumers with their service providers from September 27, 2011 to July 25, 2012 were only 1,74,258 (17,425 complaints per month), he added.

Deora said as per the said framework, customers can register with National Customer Preference Register (NCPR) for not receiving UCC.

Trai has also issued a number of amendments to these regulations and directions to address implementation issues and to make the regulatory framework effective and stringent, he added.

"However, it is seen that a number of telemarketers have violated the regulatory framework for controlling UCC. From the complaints received by service providers, it is seen that the majority of complaints of UCC are those in which calls or SMS have been sent by telecom subscriber who is not registered as a telemarketer with Trai," Deora said.

Deora added that while 1,48,095 notices have been sent to subscribers who have not registered as a telemarketer but were doing the telemarketing activities, 1,37,052 telephone numbers (telecom resources) of such subscribers have been disconnected.

He

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