Unwanted calls: New rules for telemarketers

As part of measures to curb unsolicited commercial calls, the government asked telemarketing companies on Wednesday to register themselves with telecom service providers and with the department of telecommunication.

Telemarketers will have to apply in the prescribed proforma and a processing fee of Rs 1,000 per centre to access service providers, an official statement said.

The application would be acknowledged on receipt and would be treated as provisional registration for a period of three months for providing service by telemarketer, it said.

Subsequently, a registration would be issued by Department of Telecom to the telemarketer, which would be valid for 10

years.

Existing telemarketers, without any registration, should register themselves by August 31, the statement said. National Informatics Centre has been authorised to set up a national do not call registry within three months, which will maintain a record of users who do not want unsolicited commercial calls.

On Tuesday, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India decided to impose a fine of Rs 500 on telemarketers for each unsolicited commercial call or message to users who would be registered with the registry.