500 fine for pesky SMSs?

New Delhi: There may be some relief from pesky text messages, with the telecom regulator on Friday proposing a penalty on unregistered telemarketers. Also, steps are under way to clamp down on unwanted calls. 

    In a consultation paper, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has suggested that unregistered telemarketers sending unsolicited commercial communication be charged Rs 500 per message. After 10 such instances are observed, the phone connection will be cut. 
    All that mobile users are required to do is forward the message from an unregistered telemarketer to a dedicated number—1909. Action will be initiated against the sender. Web and email-based complaint registration is also on the cards. The plan is to get access providers to put in place a system that blocks the delivery of unsolicited SMSs that carry similar signatures and come from a number that sends more than a specified number of SMSs every hour. Even banks or travel portals that send SMSs on transactions will have to hire registered telemarketers. 
    In recent months, mobile users have again been flooded with unsolicited messages, some of which are from unregistered telemarketers who use 10-digit numbers. Pesky SMSes: 'Can't encroach upon a person's privacy & time' 
New Delhi: The telecom regulator is drawing up plans to slam the brakes on unsolicited SMSs. A senior officer in Trai said a part of the reason for the sudden rise in the number of such messages was a high court order lifting the ceiling of 200 text messages a day, a decision which the regulator has decided to appeal against in the Supreme Court. 
    "While everyone has a right to free speech, no one has a right to encroach upon anyone's privacy and time," the official said. Although the regulator and the government had moved from the system of Do-Not Call register a few years ago, it was revamped last September with mobile users given the option to register to fully block or partially block pesky messages. 
    Besides, only registered telemarketers could call. While the messages did stop, they resumed within a few days as marketers discovered a loophole and started routing messages from other countries. 
    The Trai official, however, said the regulator had plugged the gap, referred to as modem farming, as it had asked service providers to scrub bulk messages from foreign shores.