Mocked & Blocked

“I won’t curse you, I won’t

wish you well. I wish you

nothing. May our lives never

touch again. Be happy or be

sad. Be whatever you want.

Just be far away from me.”

—Shi Collantes

Given my profession, my social circle and my extra-curricular activities, my phone rings more than that of most. My fast-approaching ‘Senior Citizen’ status be damned, I am still a budding youngster at heart, just about beginning to discover the wonders that life has to offer. Forget my limbs which have begun emitting sporadic, creaking sounds, or my vision which seems fuzzier than it used to be, I can still and very clearly see that which really matters. Therefore, I refuse to accept I am at the crossroads where life comes full circle and Gulab Jamuns again become more enticing than adventures in the Himalayas or tête-à-têtes with members of the fairer sex. ‘Abhi toh main jawaan hoon’.

But brash and youthful as I am, I have to admit that the week just gone by was trying and frustrating. In five days, I received 248 unsolicited calls. Add to this number the calls that I did solicit, or deviously stage-manage, and the ‘workload’ was nearly too much to cope with (given my resolve to avoid all stimulants mental and physical). I suffered through the week, and that led my thoughts to coincide with the quote above, from Collantes.

Despite DNC (‘Do Not Call’) and DND (Do Not Disturb’) registers maintained by telecom companies, there is just no stopping the annoying people who call to sell insurance, investment plans, the latest cars and getaway homes in the hills, apart from myriad other things. We can be polite and thank them, rude and use profanities, or delve into sarcasm and innuendo. Nothing works.

TRAI Back in Rescue Mode

Clearly, try as consumers and the authorities might, unsolicited callers remain as mentally indigent as ever. Things have become so bad that a flustered industry watchdog, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), is now pulling out historical judgments and announcements to sock errant callers with the power at its command. The latest is a 2010 ruling which is being implemented now. And as TRAI prepares to get into youthful action with ageing weaponry, a harangued nation waits to see how it penalizes those who swamp phones and lives with pesky calls and messages.

To kick off the crackdown, TRAI has (re-)introduced severe measures. In August this year, it mandated punitive penalties on those found violating regulations on promotional voice calls. Penalties include disconnection of telecom resources, blacklisting for up to two years and a ban on allocation of new resources during the blackballing. In three months, the measures have had an impact – complaints against callers and senders have seen a decline from 1.89 lakh in August to 1.63 lakh in September, a 13-per cent reduction, and a further dip to 1.51 lakh in October, 20-per cent lower.

Besides cracking the whip, TRAI has introduced rules to enhance message traceability. All messages now need to be traceable, with effect from November 1. To allow time for technical upgrades, the watchdog has extended the deadline for Principal Entities (PEs) and Telemarketers (TMs). Alongside penalties, TRAI is also trying education. It has organized webinars for stakeholders to understand the gravity of the situation and act on it. The first, earlier this month, saw attendance from the RBI, SEBI, PFRDA and IRDAI. The second, last week, saw participation from other regulated entities.

Tackling Problems Aplenty

The problems being tackled are many, but the biggest is something you probably haven’t thought of. Telemarketers, apart from being thick-skinned (given the very nature of their jobs), are also just trying to make a living. In a country which is battling with the highest rates of joblessness in its history, getting a tele-caller’s job is an easy option; primarily because you get next to no fixed salary, only commissions on sales. Do remember that the next time you bang the phone down on someone selling you flowers, tomato sauce or porridge.

Back to the problem, the pesky calls issue gathered heat in 2010 when they got too much to bear. In November of that year, a fine of Rs 25,000 was recommended for the first offence by a telemarketer, Rs 75,000 for the second, Rs 80,000 for the third, Rs 1.25 lakh for the fourth, Rs 1.50 lakh for the fifth and Rs 2 lakh for the sixth, following which the number would be blocked. Telemarketers were asked to submit security deposits with service providers in advance. Few did.

To add misery to telecom service providers’ already overflowing cup of woes, they were also included in the fines for ‘allowing calls and messages’, ranging from Rs 1 lakh for the first offence to Rs 10 lakh for the fourth. Interestingly, TRAI also proposed that the collected monies be given to the recipient of the call as a ‘make-good benefit’. That hasn’t happened, with action being scratchy and the collection of fines and damages even more so.

Think about it, if ‘make-good benefits’ had been extended, the 248 unsolicited calls I received week would have helped me buy a Ferrari. Instead, I was offered loans, impossible rates of interest on investments, studio apartments in Nainital and Solan, and free full-body massages.

Learning to Live With Calls

What has happened, over the years, is that we have learnt to live with this daily invasion of our peace and sanity – “Sir, I am from XYZ Bank. We are offering you 16 per cent interest on mutual fund SIPs…”

But beware, not every call will end up with a Massage or a Happy Ending; some can send you rushing to the nearest police ‘thana’. The new kids on the telemarketers’ block are cyber-crime and financial fraud. This year itself, Communications Minister Devusinh Chauhan told Parliament that 2.8 lakh mobile connections were disconnected for being involved in cyber-crime and financial fraud on the recommendation of law enforcement agencies.

To curb banking and financial irregularities, over 55.5 lakh phone connections were disconnected for being acquired using fake or forged documents. In a tumble effect, this saw 9.9 lakh bank accounts being frozen, with wallets linked to these ‘suspect accounts’ checked for balance. Telemarketing firms are now being allotted numbers beginning with ‘700’, enabling phone-users to recognise commercial calls, and decide whether to accept or reject them.

As I have written in another column, the calendar dates of disciplinary action tell their own tale. The announcement of fines to tackle pesky calls was carried by publications on November 29, 2010. The same story was carried again on January 20, 2013. And it was carried this year again, on May 14, 2024. Now, we are sitting on November 25, 2024, as you read this column. Will this interminable waiting and pesky calls ever end?

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on narayanrajeev2006@gmail.com. Views expressed are personal