Telcos can’t force extra services on you

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday made it mandatory for the operator to activate value-added services (VAS) of a subscriber only if it receives confirmation for it from a subscriber twice.

There’s good news for pestered cellphone users.

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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday made it mandatory for the operator to activate value-added services (VAS) of a subscriber only if it receives confirmation for it from a subscriber twice.

At present, the regulator receives a number of complaints that operators were activating VAS without seeking consent of users.

Under the new guidelines, operators will have to take consent twice.

There will also be a common de-activation procedure using toll Free Common Short Code 155,223.