TRAI ready for legal battle on unsolicited calls

New Delhi, Mar 19 (UNI) Telecom watchdog TRAI today said it will not step back from its regulations on unsolicited calls and is ready for a legal battle.

''There is no question of stepping back from our direction on unsolicited calls. We want the service providers to be strict with the tele-marketing firms who call the subscribers who do not wish for it,'' TRAI Member R N Prabhakar told reporters on the sidelines of a conference here.

However, the media has reported that the telecom companies do not approve the regulation saying that the authority has no powers to impose financial penalties on them and may challenge it in the court.

''We are ready for the legal battle if they (telecom providers) go to the court,'' Mr Prabhakar said.

TRAI on Monday had said the telecom service providers will have to pay up to Rs 5,000 for first unsolicited commercial call to the customers registered under 'national do not call' registry and up to Rs 20,000, in case of second or subsequent such non-compliances.

Apart from this, the receiver will be paid Rs 500 for the first unsolicited call and Rs 1,000 for every subsequent such call.

The notification also prescribed that the complaint regarding Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) will be made by the subscriber to the Service Provider within 15 days of the receipt of such call.

The Authority had set up the National Do Not Call (NDNC) Registry in October last year to reduce the inconvenience to the telecom subscribers caused from the unsolicited tele-marketing calls.

Till date, more than 8.3 million phone users have registered for in NDNC Registry, while about 13,600 tele-marketers have got themselves registered with the Department of Telecommunication.

UNI MP SBA AS1715