74% respondents in Trai’s DND list still get unwanted SMS: Survey

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Do unwanted calls or SMS often disturb you? You are not alone.  According to a recent survey by LocalCircles, around 74% of the participants, registered in the DND list of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), received unwanted SMS.

The survey, which covered over 35,000 people in 324 districts across the country, found that at least 73 percent were getting four or more unwanted SMS every day.

As many as 26 percent said at least one-fourth of the unwanted SMS comes from mobile service providers, while those from banks, insurance and real estate companies.  Besides these, earning money offers were also among spam messages.

The survey was conducted in the wake of the measures proposed by the Union government’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT) for stricter penalty norms on pesky callers.

What is DND?

DND stands for “Do Not Disturb”. It is a list meant for protecting customers from pesky communications by telemarketers.

Different telecom companies provide the option of registering one’s number in the DND list.

If you enlist your phone number in Trai’s DND list, then as per regulations, you won’t receive any promotional messages or calls.

Even for non-DND numbers, the promotional SMS can only be sent from 9am to 9pm only.

The TRAI manages the regulations regarding pesky communications and has a provision of Rs 1,000 to Rs 10,000 penalty per violation. Under Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018, up to 100 violations calls for a penalty of Rs 1,000 each, Rs 5,000 each for 100-1,000 breaches and Rs 10,000 each for more than 1,000 violations.

How to check if your number is registered in the DND list?

1. Visit www.nccptrai.gov.in
2. Go to a link ‘Customer Registration Status’
3. In the following screen that opens, enter your mobile phone number and press ‘Search’

What is the DoT proposal?

The DoT has proposed to make the penalty norms more stringent by reducing the number of occasions for levying the fines. It has decided to penalise the violator Rs 1,000 per violation for up to 10 breaches, Rs 5,000 each for 10-50 cases, and Rs 10,000 per incident for more than 50 incidents.

The special DoT arms—Digital Intelligence Unit and Telecom Analytics for Fraud Management and Consumer Protection—have also proposed blocking IMEI of the devices from which the pesky SMS are sent, and blacklisting of IDs of the guilty telemarketers.

The DoT special wings coordinate with the law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and other government organisations in cases involving frauds using telecom resources or services.