Telecom regulator Trai has confirmed that the Do Not Call Registry (DNCR) will be the combat weapon for unsolicited commercial calls (UCC).

The Supreme Court in mid-August suggested moving from DNCR to a Call Registry to combat pesky calls, and asked Trai for a recommendation.

RN Prabhakar, a member of Trai, told the Examiner, "DNCR is nationally accepted, instead of Call Registry. Implication of call registry would lead BPOs to the doldrums, as it will put all mobile customers under a  default "do not call" status, and only those who register for commercial calls will receive UCCs."

Even though the telecom industry makes additional revenue from UCCs, stricter laws are needed to strengthen the DNCR by allowing the prosecution of repeated defaulters or offending call centres, said Prabhakar. "If an operator doesn’t take action against unsolicited call makers, the customer can lodge a complaint with us and we will make sure that action is taken against the defaulters."

The telecom industry suffers the consequences of not protecting its customers against unsolicited calls. Records suggest that two-thirds of customers shift their operators due to UCC, suggests Tim Williams, co-founder and executive VP of worldwide sales for Flytxt.

Those who are annoyed by such calls can register with the DNCR list - not widely publicised by telecom operators - by either calling 1909 or by sending SMS ‘START DND’ to 1909. However, this DNCR protects you only from calls made from within the boundaries of India. And a lot of BPO’s are currently working from other Asian countries to make calls within Indian boundaries.

The best way to avoid such calls is to minimise the chances of getting yourself profiled, said Prabhakar, who avoids disclosing his contact details wherever possible. You can be profiled when you drop your contact details at a restaurant when giving feedback, or at a shopping mall when you give your details to the retailers. X

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