TRAI earns Rs.6 lakhs by fining telecoms for pesky calls, SMSes

Reducing the number of pesky calls and SMSes, if not wiping it out completely became the agenda of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), only recently. Acting on a host of complaints it received from harrowed users, the TRAI introduced the "100 SMS/day, per SIM" ruling, which it then increased to "200 SMSes" to accommodate the personal messaging needs of users. All these methods were carried out in a bid to lessen the number of pesky calls and SMSes. Now, a report in The Hindu confirms that TRAI had been fining these mobile service providers to discourage pesky calls and SMSes and has collected a fine of over Rs. 6 lakhs.

Fined! (Image credit: Getty Images)

The report states that, "Since the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2010 came into force on September 27, 2011, the telecom service providers have penalised registered telemarketers in 18 cases and deposited a total of Rs.6.05 lakh to TRAI till November 30, 2011". Elaborating on this further, the report stated that among those fined were - Tata Teleservices, who shelled out a fine of Rs.3.30 lakhs, Vodafone, who paid Rs.2 lakh and Loop Mobile, who paid Rs.75,000.

Interestingly, the TRAI has seen a sharp drop in the number of complaints that it has been receiving from subscribers against pesky telemarketing calls and SMSes, owing to a change in the regulations. In a quote provided by Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora to The Hindu, it was revealed that, "Prior to coming into force of this regulation, on an average 47,454 complaints were received a month (March 2010 to March 2011). However, the total number of complaints lodged by telecom consumers with their service providers from September 27, 2011 to November 30, 2011 were only 9,746 (4,498 complaints a month)."