At a time when the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is introducing new measures to address the issue of spam calls and messages, a survey by LocalCircles has found that 76% people get three or more such messages daily. The survey received responses from 41,000 people located in 357 districts of India. According to the data, 8 in 10 surveyed who are registered on DND (do not disturb) list say they still get unwanted SMS.
Financial services and real estate were identified as the top sources of spam, with 50% of respondents indicating they receive unwanted SMS related to financial services and 32% citing real estate promotions, the report stated. Furthermore, 87% of those surveyed said they receive unwanted SMS from mobile numbers and coded senders that are difficult to associate with a specific company or brand.
“It is not only the nuisance of getting unwanted SMS that is worrisome but also the risk it poses for the unwary who may fall into traps laid by fraudsters,” LocalCircles said. “It is hoped the new Indian Telecommunications Act, 2023, together with the ‘Guidelines for the Prevention and Regulation of Unsolicited and Unwarranted Business Communication, 2024’, the proposed separate numbering series and the new TRAI measures to deter spammers will help protect the consumers against the menace of spam SMS and its negative impact,” it added.
Starting September 1, messages containing non-whitelisted URLs or APKs will be prohibited. The same is being done to prevent harmful links often used by spammers to deceive consumers or distribute malware. Trai also directed telcos to disconnect all telecom resources of unregistered telemarketers found making spam calls, and to blacklist them for up to two years.
