COAI Urges DOCA to Curb Spam Calls, Texts

28 Nov 2024 , 03:25 PM

Using its authority under Section 18 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, India’s leading telcos have urged the Department of Consumer Affairs (DOCA) to swiftly issue guidelines in order to take swift, severe action against those who are inundating regular consumers with unsolicited and unwarranted business communications (UBC).

Because there are multiple entities in the ecosystem that are in charge of UBC that are outside the telecom regulator’s jurisdiction, telcos feel that the current Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation, 2018 (TCCCPR), which was created under the TRAI Act, 1997, is “an incomplete and ineffective solution.”A

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) wrote to Nidhi Khare, secretary, department of consumer affairs, on November 26th, saying, “UBC is a violation of consumer rights, and the DOCA guidelines, once issued, will cover all sources of UBC — whether through the telecom service provider channel or the OTT communications channel — and will provide complete protection to consumers at large.” Vodafone Idea (Vi), Bharti Airtel, and Reliance Jio are represented by the telecom sector organisation.

According to the telecom industry group, the TCCCPR only requires TSPs to cut off the connections of users who are the source of this type of communication in order to combat this threat.

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