14 DAY TRIAL // With SMS spam becoming an increasing problem, the Indian telecoms authority released the long-promised service that will allow mobile phone owners to blacklist unwanted short messages received from telemarketers and other companies who seek cheap advertising. Also, a 100 SMSs per day limit has been introduced.
The new regulations come after the large number of complaints filed by users regarding unsolicited alerts coming from telemarketers and even political parties in search of almost free propaganda.
[admark=1]According to the Times of India, at first the new rules caused a lot of confusion and protest but now, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) cleared things and adapted the 100 SMS limit so that certain institutions and organizations will not suffer.
"... Hereby directs all access providers to exclude the following persons from the limit of one hundred SMS per day per SIM -- dealers of the telecom service providers and DTH operators for sending request for electronic recharge on mobile numbers," TRAI said in a statement.
The exception will also be applied to e-ticketing agencies and social networks such as Facebook, Twitter or Google Plus, which might have to send a large number of messages to inform their members of account related activities.
The representatives of wireless service providers urged TRAI to reconsider this move as it might be considered as an enclosure to fundamental rights.
National holidays will not fall under this rule, consumers being allowed to send as many text alerts as they want.
On the other hand, the telecommunications authority recommends that access suppliers limit their customers to 3000 SMSs each month and if exceptions have to be made, "The access provider shall, before excluding the persons, obtain an undertaking from such person that he shall not use the said facility in any manner for sending commercial communications."
By calling the 1909 do-not-call number, users will be able to block out any messages received for commercial reasons or they'll have the choice of selecting only certain categories of notices they want to know about.
Telemarketers who don't respect these blacklists will have to pay fines and they can even have their licenses removed.