''Do Not Call''

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Raja orders action against unsolicited tele calls

An unsolicited telemarketing call to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee is what it took Telecom Minister A Raja to swing into action for prohibiting immediately such intruding calls. ( Watch ) 

Within hours of reports that Mukherjee himself was at the receiving end of such calls, Raja activated his ministry to take steps against such calls that "encroach" into the privacy of telecom consumers, an issue that has been haunting every single consumer despite the regulator TRAI's attempts to ban such a nuisance. 

Raja has asked Telecom Secretary P J Thomas to convene a meeting and steps be taken to prohibit unsolicited calls immediately. 

"A wide range of products and services are now a days offered through tele-marketing which result in inconvenience and disturbance to telecom consumers," Raja said in a note to the secretary. 

During an interaction with political leaders to resolve the logjam on price rise debate in Parliament, Mukherjee on Monday got a call with loan offers from some company evoking a strong reaction from him. 

Those present at the meeting said Mukherjee asked his aides to hand him the mobile, thinking it must be an important call. 

However, he (Mukherjee) told the caller, "No, no. Not now. I am in a meeting." 

Visibly angry, he handed over his mobile to Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Narayansamy. 

When others asked who had called, an embarrassed Mukherjee said it was one of the finance companies, which had called to offer him a home loan. 

He then said he gets four-five such calls everyday.

[sathishgobi View Profile Find User's Posts Find User's Threads PM User E-Mail User]

Bharti Airtel for termination charge on bulk SMSes

Amid an outcry against unsolicited tele calls and messages, leading operator Bharti Airtel said imposing a termination charge on bulk messages would help curb the practice of tele marketing companies intruding into the privacy of subscribers. "Like voice calls, bulk SMSes should also attract termination charge even if it is marginal," Bharti Airtel CEO Sanjay Kapoor said while condemning the menace. 

Termination charge is the fee companies pay one other for completing the calls or messages on their networks. Most of the telecom firms, including Airtel, Tatas and Aircel, sell bulk SMSes and air time to telemarketing firms. 

Bharti''s reaction comes in the wake of Telecom Minister A Raja ordering action to stop unsolicited calls by tele marketing company immediately. The telecom ministry is likely to convene a meeting of all operators to take effective steps in this regard. 

Asked whether unsolicited calls and messages should be banned, Kapoor said, "No, it should not be banned but there should strict implementation of rules like ''Do Not Call'' registry as suggested by the regulator Telecom Regulatory authority of India (TRAI)." He said the relevant data is available and it should not be difficult to find out which are the players, who are offering this bulk messaging facilities in violation of the rules and regulations. 

Kapoor favoured penalising companies, which do not follow ''Do Not Call'' registry in letter and spirit. In other countries, such norms are followed strictly and we should ensure strict adherence to such norms.

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