New Delhi, July 19 (IANS). Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has taken exception to Truecaller showing the tag of “Frequently Blocked” on calls coming from 140 and 1600 number series. The telecom regulator says such labels can mislead telecom customers and create unnecessary doubts about genuine commercial and government interactions.
A senior TRAI official said that tagging regulated number series with labels like “Frequently Blocked” is not appropriate as it may create confusion in the minds of users and reduce confidence in calls being made under the rules laid down by the regulator.
The telecom regulator has suggested Truecaller to display a message informing users that they can choose to block unwanted promotional communications from the 140 series through Trai’s official ‘Do Not Disturb’ (DND) preference management app.
According to the regulator, instead of labeling individual numbers, creating more awareness among people about the DND system would be a more effective solution as this would enable consumers to systematically manage their communication options.
TRAI has specifically earmarked the 1600 series for service and transactional calls of regulated banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) companies. These include companies working under the supervision of Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India and Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority. This series is also used for communication between the government and citizens.
At the same time, 140 series has been designated for promotional calls made by registered companies of different sectors.
The senior official warned that under no circumstances should 1600 series numbers be marked in such a way that customers avoid picking them up, as such calls may contain important fraud alerts, transaction verification, banking notifications and government information.
There itself. Truecaller says spam calls have increased after TRAI mandated the use of dedicated number series and barred caller identification apps from showing community-reported spam information for these numbers.
According to the company, many users have started ignoring or blocking calls coming from these series, thereby reducing trust in genuine business communication.
–IANS
abs
