With growing complaints about the ineffectiveness of the national Do Not Call Registry, the department of telecommunications (DoT) is now thinking of turning it into a Do Call Registry (DCR) instead.
Rather than having subscribers register if they do not wish to receive unsolicited telemarketing calls, they would now have to enlist only if they do. Officials said various consumer bodies had pointed out that a DCR would be far more effective in putting a stop to such unwanted calls. DoT is likely to ask regulator Trai to look into the matter.
The existing registry, which became operational last October, has around 9 million of the country?s 282 million mobile subscribers enlisted. Telemarketing companies are supposed to scrub their calling lists of those on the Do Not Call Registry. However, there have been increasing complaints that unsolicited telemarketing calls persist, despite having the mechanism in place.
Officials said that if the Do Not Call Registry were to be replaced with the DCR, it would not only be easier to keep a track of errant callers, but it would also be much easier for telemarketing companies to target their pitches.
The new proposal is being discussed at a time when Trai has suggested more stringent financial sanctions on non-compliant operators and telemarketers that violate the Do Not Call Registry. The regulator has suggested widening the ambit of penalty by including telecom service providers that host errant telemarketers.
No penalty has been levied on service providers but only on errant telemarketing firms. The regulator has also proposed a revision in the tariff on a registered telemarketer to Rs 500 for the first unsolicited call and Rs 1,000 thereafter.
