Unwanted calls, SMS

Despite registering your cell phone with the NDNC registry, many of us continue to receive telemarketers’ calls and SMSes. Is there any respite from this menace?Almost everyone who uses a mobile phone is upset today due to unwanted calls and SMSes from telemarketers. The authorities, particularly the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), have tried to stop this menace by introducing the National Do Not Call (NDNC) registry. However, with the lukewarm response to the NDNC registry, TRAI is now thinking of introducing a ‘Do-Call’ registry. The problem of unwanted calls and SMSes is growing bigger by the day. There really is no escape from this menace; but, I would like to share some ways to reduce it based on my own experience. The first thing, of course, is to register your mobile number with the NDNC registry. Simply type ‘START DND’ and send a free SMS to 1909. You can also call the same number. Your mobile service provider is required to acknowledge the request within 10 days and it is supposed to take effect 45 days from the date of request. If the request goes unheeded beyond the stipulated 45 days and you continue to receive unwanted calls or SMSes, you will have to file a complaint with your service provider, mentioning the call-originating telephone number, date and time of the call and type of the commercial message. Bear in mind that you need to file your complaint within 15 days from the receipt of such a call or SMS. If you receive an unwanted call or SMS from a bank, mobile service provider or an insurance company, you can visit the website www.donotdisturb.in. Register your mobile phone number using the links provided on this site to these entities so that they do not disturb (DND) you again. It takes 45 days for the DND trigger to get activated.Nowadays, your handset is clogged with SMSes prefaced with codes like ID, TM, TA, AT, VK, etc. TRAI has mandated all mobile operators in India to prefix an identification tag before all application-to-peer (A2P) commercial bulk SMSes which would identify the name of the service provider and the location where the SMS originated along with the name of the company sending the SMS. The alpha-numeric identifier is in the form of ‘XY-Z’, where X stands for the code for the service provider and Y for the area of origin of the SMS. Generally, Y should indicate the name of the company; often, it does not. Okay, that was all about the tech part of the menace, but what about the solution? Frankly, there is no single-point solution. First, check if your mobile handset has a facility to blacklist a number. If so, add the number from where you received the call/SMS to the blacklist; your handset will auto-reject the call. But the facility works only for numbers and not for alpha-numeric characters. Second, don’t give your mobile number to any unknown person. Some notorious spammers, like DNAinfoline, usually procure the number data from local mobile shops, so be extra careful when buying a new connection or recharging your pre-paid mobile.Third, all mobile service providers routinely share your number with a lot of value-added service (VAS) providers, like Mauj, Indiagames, Hungama, Soundbuzz and Mobile2win. They keep sending messages which have access and delete options; since the access option always appears first on your mobile screen, it may get activated inadvertently. From April 2009, TRAI has mandated all mobile service providers to offer two keys for subscribing to any VAS, instead of just ‘*’ or ‘9’ as in case of ‘press star to copy hello tune’; but it is hardly effective.The question is: If we can use technology like pressing a key or combination of keys to activate/de-activate VAS services, why can’t it also be used to record and stop unwanted calls or SMSes? The mobile operator can be alerted during a call from a telemarketer by pressing certain keys. Similarly, why can’t we forward the spam SMS to the mobile operator by just pressing a combination key?

Courtsey -Moneylife.in and SuchetaDalal.com