The Supreme Court recently directed to the Union government to cancel licences of unregistered telemarketing companies for it is seen as a stem measure that is aimed at putting an end to pesky calls made to mobile phone users. The apex court has proposed introduction of a ‘Do Call Register’ facility to enlist the names of mobile users who wish to receive calls related to promotional schemes. Telemarketing' companies would be allowed to call only such phone users. The court has also asked the government to consider allotting distinct and separate numbers to tele marketers to ensure that subscribers know beforehand about commercial calls. The new facility ostensibly has been suggested following the failure of the ‘Do Not Call Register’ facility in vogue for about a year which had not been
successful in curbing unwanted commercial calls.

The domestic telemarketing industry, employing about 2 lakh people, accounts for over 10 billion calls each year. Leaving no stone unturned, such telemarketing firms usually get a database of customers from a variety of public and private sources like the telephone directory, yellow pages, customer database of another organization and so on. Apart from the telemarketers, charitable organizations, political bodies, airlines, banks, insurance companies, non-profit organizations, and welfare associations also make unsolicited calls to consumers. Unlike in the west, where telemarketing is subject to regulatory and legislative, controls related to consumer privacy and protection, in India the case is just the reverse.

Many a time these calls are quite irritating and annoying to people who are busy or when such calls are received at odd hours. At times, the caller is hardly concerned whether the party on the other side is in a frame of mind to receive the call. Flooded with complaints of mobile subscribers of receiving unsolicited calls even after registering, telecom regulator TRAI notified this March the imposition of a fine of Rs 5000 for the first unsolicited commercial call made to a subscriber enlisted in the ‘Do Not Call Register’ and Rs 20000 for every subsequent call. All that the subscriber has to do is to inform his service provider within 15 days of the call.

Punishments with imprisonment has been proposed up to seven years including fine extending to 5 lakh or both for violators. In case of mobile companies, the punishment with fine is up to Rs 10 lakh with suspension of licence for a year. Telemarketers reportedly pay heavy annual fees and must search the registry every month and drop from call lists the phone numbers of consumers who have registered. Violators are slapped with huge financial penalties.

State governments also have their own ‘Do Not Call’ laws under which the penalty is higher if the affected consumer is over 60 years of age. In a lawsuit filed under the ‘Do Not Call’ law, the highest penalty in the US imposed on a firm called American Home Craft and its director was a whopping $100,000. Hopefully, the Supreme Court’s latest order would put a check on pesky calls. But implementation in the right earnest holds the key.