Mumbai, October 5, 2007

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has reigned in the do not call regime, with it becoming effective from October 12. The regulator has also got registration from over 65 lakh users, who have made it clear that they are not interested in telemarketing calls.

In a release, the regulator said that the national do not call (NDNC) registry is ready and will be operational from October 12 for subscribers who have registered before August 31, 2007. Subscribers registered after this date will get the benefits of the NDNC after 45 days.

However, subscribers also can continue registering for the service, even though it would take another 45 days for this mechanism to come into effect.

As per the regulation, the telecom service providers will have the right to charge Rs 500 or disconnect telemarketers' lines, if they are found to violating the rules. So far around 8,000 telemarketers have been issued provisional registration that allows them to access the NDNC registry and avoid calling subscribers registered with it.

The TRAI had issued 'Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communications Regulations, 2007', on June 5, 2007, for putting in place a mechanism for curbing the unwanted telemarketing calls.  

Over 65 lakh subscribers have registered with NDNC through their telecom service providers as on October 1. Aircel has received over 54,959 do not call applications, while that of BPL stood at 58,706, BSNL 1,57,489, Bharti AirTel 30,97,974, HFCL 28,730 and Idea 822,387.