Common do-not-call registry for card industry in 90 days

Mumbai, Apr 2 (UNI) Indian Banks Association (IBA), during its extensive discussions with India Cards Council (ICC), has decided to set up a common do-not-call (DNC) registry for all plastic money card service providers in the country.

''After an extensive discussion and meetings, a decision was taken to progress in the direction of setting up a common DNC,'' IBA sources said.

IBA expects that in about 90 days, a revised format would be issued, inviting prospective service operators to bid for setting up and operate the common DNC registry.

The discussions between IBA and ICC on the issue of unwanted tele marketing calls for credit cards and other banking products were facilitated by MasterCard International. The common DNC registry will cover all financial products.

The governance committee of the ICC comprises officials from MasterCard International, Central Bank of India, Citibank, HDFC Bank, HSBC, ICICI Bank and Vijaya Bank.

Earlier, Reserve Bank of India had issues guidelines on the card services in November last year stipulating that each bank should set up a do-not-call registry for customers who did not wish to receive tele-marketing calls from the bank.

Though banks have set up DNCs, customers find the arrangement cumbersome as they have to register with each bank separately.

MasterCard India drew upon its experiences in the US and Canada to propose that a much better solution would be possible for the cards industry to operate through a common DNC registry.

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