TRAI has given a moratorium of six months on unwanted calls and messages.
TRAI has given exemption to commercial and government entities to send calls or messages with the consent of the customers. But for this they have to take the consent of the customers. Banks, insurance, finance and business institutions will complete the work of taking consent from customers by 30 September. Rest of the institutions have been given time till November 30 for this. According to experts, telecom companies have asked for six months time only to prepare the platform. So nothing can be said for sure as to how long it will take to get rid of the call. The reason for this is that most of the calls are made by non-registered entities only. The work of blocking them will be done only after receiving the complaint from the customer.
How will the platform be ready
TRAI has asked the messaging entities to ensure that only messages that the subscriber wants are sent. Along with this, telecom operators have been told that the message sent to the customers should contain the message that how they can stop unwanted messages. By 31 July 2023, telecom companies will prepare the necessary platforms for digital consent. After this, the process of taking digital consent for calls/messages will start from August 1. The list of call back numbers of the consenters will be ready by August 31. After this, from September 1, business organizations will start taking consent from the customers. By September 30, banks, insurance, finance and business organizations will prepare the platform. By November 30, all other institutions will prepare the platform.
Customers will have the right to cancel the consent for calls or messages. Companies will have to provide this facility 24 hours a day. Along with this, the companies will also have to ensure that no calls/messages are sent to the users who have not given their consent. Organizations making commercial use of calls and messages will have to specify the format of the complaint. Entities using customer data must keep the customer’s consent on their records. Before taking consent, the organizations will have to give information about the content sent to the customers. An OTP will be sent to the customer from the registered mobile number. Call/SMS will be sent only after customer approves by entering OTP.
