Telecom service providers will have to pay dearly each time a subscriber gets an unsolicited commercial call, despite having registered on the National Do Not Call (DNC) Registry. In a significant move, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Monday issued a regulation to this effect. Now, a service provider will face fines of up to Rs 5,000 for a first offence and up to Rs 20,000 for every subsequent instance.

Telecom service providers have maintained that they have no role in unsolicited telemarketing calls. Though officially the Cellular Operators? Association of India and the Association of Unified Service Providers of India did not comment on the matter, industry sources admitted that ?the matter was serious?.

Fines for unsolicited calls were hitherto levied only on errant telemarketing companies. However, since the DNC Registry norms were being flouted, Trai had sought to rope in service providers as well by initiating a consultation process on January 16. Accordingly, the regulation now increases the fine on telemarketers to Rs 500 for a first offence and Rs 1,000 for subsequent breaches.

Trai has issued the new regulation under Section 36 of the Trai Act, which empowers the regulator to levy financial sanctions in the consumer interest. Trai otherwise does not have powers to levy fines on telecom service providers without the sanction of courts. Analysts point out that the regulator may now use Section 36 to levy fines on service providers for breach of regulations.

There is reason for alarm among mobile operators as the regulator can now slap similar fines for quality of service. In March 2006, Trai had issued notices to telecom majors like Bharti Airtel and Reliance Communications, among others, citing quality of service, but that was challenged in TDSat, where the matter is still sub-judice.