Airtel, ICICI and American Exp fined Rs 75 lakh by DSCDRC

New Delhi, January 16 (UNI) Telecom giant Airtel, ICICI and the American Express Bank have been fined Rs 75 lakh by the Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (DSCDRC) for making unsolicited calls, messages and telemarketing.

Responding to a petition filed by one Nivedita Sharma against Airtel, ICICI and American Express Bank, Justice JD Kapoor, president of the Commission expressed his anguish over the means of telemarketing communication employed by these companies, as it creates disturbance in a consumer's day-to-day life.

''The calls are made at odd hours and when the person is at a business meeting or some emergency. Receiving such calls not only harass but also unduly interferes with the right of privacy of a person, causing unnecessary financial loss to the subscriber when they attend to such calls even when they are on national or international roaming,'' said the order.

Justice Kapoor said that sharing confidential information such as name, address, mobile number, financial standing with others also pose a serious threat to the safety and security of the consumer.

Airtel and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) have been ordered to pay a fine of Rs 50 lakh, while the ICICI and American Express Bank have been issued a penalty of Rs 25 lakh.

''These damages are being imposed because of 'care a fig for' attitude of cellular operators and telemarketing agents for causing immense nuisance in spite of the fact that they were issued a notice by the Supreme Court in a PIL in 2003,'' Justice Kapoor said, adding, ''It appears that the cellular service providers, financial institutions, banks and other companies who market their products through telemarketing are in league with the TRAI and there is an "Unholy Trinity".'' The Commission also severely admonished TRAI for not taking any effective step in this regard and directed TRAI to establish a national "Do not Call" registry for all marketing agents.

''The subscribers should be called upon to register their telephone numbers by publicising such a registry in newspapers and through internet,'' the order added.

UNI