I’ve started receiving telemarketing calls again.
My phone numbers (all 4 of them) are all subscribed to India’s National Do-Not-Call registry. While a good idea, it’s basically a farce, because most of the telemarketing companies seem to ignore the list.
I wrote this email to the NDNC “helpline”:
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Hello,
I have been on the DNC for several months with all of my mobile numbers (I have 4, each with different providers), yet I still receive telemarketing calls and, less frequently, SMS.
Tell me, what good is being subscribed to the DNC list if companies essentially ignore (or at least never update) the list? Many of those whom I speak to are surprised to learn that my number(s) are on this list.
Additionally, the numbers are all in my own name, and I am NOT Indian, nor do I have a PAN card or anything, so even if I wanted such offers, I am not eligible to begin with.
What else can I do to prevent such calls that are both annoying and supposedly not allowed? Is there a fine instituted for those who call despite my DNC registration? If so, then I will send a list of companies and the frequency with which I receive calls on a monthly basis.
If not, *I* will be imposing hefty fines directly on the companies who are calling, in the form of invoices for my time (as I bill hourly, interruptions can get me off-track for upwards of 30 minutes).
Hitting these companies where it hurts (especially in this economy) is looking like the last option I have available as a consumer to prevent these calls – and hopefully my number(s) will all be blacklisted by the call-centers themselves.
Mathew Carley
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After a quick Google search, I found this article on ZDNet Asia, containing the following paragraph:
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However, yesterday’s TRAI recommendation–whereby the penalty has been raised to US$123.6 (5000 rupee) for the first call, going up US$494 (20,000 rupee) for subsequent calls–should definitely help. Ironically, this penalty applies to the telecom operators, and not the telemarketers. The fine on telemarketers is a lot lower– US$12.30 (500 rupee) for the first unsolicited call and US$24.7 (1,000 rupee) for every subsequent call.
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This has helped me decide on the size of “fines” I shall be issuing to the likes of Reliance Investments, Deutsche Bank and others.
Telemarketers, consider this a warning, and when you receive my bill(s) containing names, times and other relevant information, I shall refer you to this post.
