Government to curb unsolicited commercial calls

The government today said it will soon curb unsolicited commercial calls and messages which have become an irritant for mobile phone users across the country.

The government on Friday said it will soon curb unsolicited commercial calls and messages which have become an irritant for mobile phone users across the country.

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"The government is very clear that we want this to come to an end and we are working with all stakeholders and very soon we will have a resolution to this problem," said Minister of State for Communications Sachin Pilot.

"It is not fair for consumers to be inundated with such phone calls and SMSs and operators also must show responsibilty and not let the consumers get harassed in this way," he added.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had an open house discussion on the issue with various stake holders earlier this month.

"In India we have almost 68 crore people using mobile phones and I think it is an invasion of privacy. It is not only morally incorrect but also legally incorrect for telemarketing companies both registered and unregistered," said Pilot.

TRAI has so far made several attempts to curb the menace of unsolicited commercial calls, including creating "Do Not Call Registry" where subscribers who do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial calls can register.

However, there has not been much success. While the voice calls have reduced to some extent, the messages have increased considerably.