In its ongoing attempt to curb Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) or pesky calls/ SMSes, the government has decided to allocate a separate numbering series ‘160’ exclusively for service and transactional voice calls.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) has decided to allocate a separate 10-digit number series starting with ‘160’ for messaging by central and state governments, banks, insurance companies, pension providers, credit card companies, and investment advisers.
This action has been taken as per the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR), 2018.
The rules are, however, silent on sectors such as real estate or utilities like electricity or gas supply companies.
Curbing frauds
While the move is expected to put a check on the nuisance value of unwanted calls, it is also meant to ensure that frauds are curbed as a consumer will be able to identify if a call or a message has come from one of the regulated entities or not.
DoT believes that with this move consumers will ignore fraudulent entities who not only seek investments but also lure consumers to give out crucial personal information.
The telecom service provider shall obtain an undertaking from the seeking entity that it will use the number assigned from the ‘160’ series exclusively for service and transactional voice calls.
The government and regulator are also looking at levying higher penalty for unsolicited calls.
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