Talking Shop: Dial ‘D’ for Disruption

“I am disappointed

when a liar’s pants

don’t actually catch

fire and singe him.”

—Anonymous

It is a deadly interlude, one that begins innocently enough. Your precious mobile phone buzzes, and you answer, expecting family, friend or a colleague. You are greeted, instead, by an unbelievably-cheerful person pitching a ‘limited-period offer’ for an insurance policy or holiday package you do not need, a property you don’t know exists, or a car that you would need ten lifetimes to be able to afford.

As you clench your teeth and grope in your mind for a suitable word to bless the caller, he/she makes the curve ball virtually un-hittable. He/she drones on mechanically till you realize the SPAM call is either being made using an IVR (Interactive Voice Response), or talking to you is a robot freshly imported from Indonesia or Thailand. Given the metallic guts of this new scourge in your life, you accept the sheer futility of swearing and curse words. For even if you do, the monotonous whine in your ear would continue to chirrup excitedly, mercilessly… perhaps even grinning mirthlessly.

Forget the stringent measures and regulations imposed by India’s telecom watchdog, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The menace of SPAM and unsolicited calls has not only persisted, it has evolved. Telemarketers seem immune to laws, fines or the (im)patience of their victims. Worse, the audacity of callers has reached new heights—their rudeness, taunts and outright harassment make up the new Mount Everest of chutzpah. Welcome to India’s unrelenting telemarketing circus.

A Grievous Problem

Numbers drive home the gravity of the problem. In 2023, TRAI fined over 30,000 entities for SPAM violations. That’s not even a drop in the ocean of mindless calling and selling, research bodies point out, adding that around 400 crore such calls are made each year. The ‘Truecaller Insights Team’ revealed that India ranks among the top five countries plagued by unsolicited, spam calls—the average user receives over 17 such calls per month. And if you belong to a particular income bracket, or have been visiting online sites to buy or sell any product, package or property, congratulations. You are now phone-condemned—the number of calls hitting your phone could be as much as 40-50 times more.

In an earlier column, I insisted that DNC (‘Do Not Call’) and DND (Do Not Disturb’) registers maintained by telecom companies do not help much, if at all. I stick to that verdict; there is no stopping these calls. Try as consumers and the authorities might, SPAM callers remain mentally and emotionally indigent and impious. Things have been so messed up that TRAI has even dug up historical orders and announcements to sock errant callers with all the might that it can muster. TRAI has implemented a 2010 ruling and re-introduced stringent penalties.

This happened in August 2024, when wayward callers were threatened with cash penalties, if found violating norms. These included disconnection of telecom resources, blacklisting for two years and a ban on allocation of new resources. Months later, the measures have seen SPAM decline—from 1.89 lakh in August to 1.63 lakh in September, and a further dip to 1.51 lakh in October, 20-per cent lower.

Rewind to Year 2010

Pesky calls first raised a hue and cry in India 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 calling number would be blocked. Telemarketers were also asked to submit security deposits with service providers in advance. Few did.

Also finding themselves in TRAI’s cross-hairs were telecom service providers’, whose cup of woes had already started overflowing in 2010. Telcos were included in the fines for ‘allowing calls and messages’, with penalties ranging from Rs 1 lakh for the first offence to Rs 10 lakh for the fourth. TRAI declared that the collected funds would be given to call recipients as a ‘make-good benefit’. That never happened, with enforcement being scratchy and the collection of fines even more so.

How have tele-callers bypassed the rules for years? By masking their identity, using personal numbers, or setting up parallel operations. There are bots too, which are thriving. Pre-recorded messages have become a cost-effective tool for telemarketers, allowing them to bombard thousands of unsuspecting individuals simultaneously. Worse, SPAM calls are directly tied to data breaches, with telemarketers often purchasing databases from shady vendors.

War-Zone Anecdotes

Other than you and me, crores of Indians have been facing the tele-callers’ wrath. Arjun Sharma, an IT professional in Delhi, receives at least three calls daily from property agents. “They have an uncanny ability to call me when I am in a meeting or driving. Once, I asked them where they got my number. The caller just laughed: ‘Sir, everything is available online.’ It was infuriating!”

There’s Sneha Nair, a Bengaluru homemaker, who recounts being harangued by a telemarketer when she refused to buy insurance. “He called me ‘narrow-minded’ for not thinking about my family’s future. When I said I would report his call to TRAI, he laughed and hung up.”

The latest pestilence? Elections. Recorded messages from political parties are infiltrating our lives, turning an already frustrating experience into a cacophony of campaign slogans. Some argue that these calls violate ‘the code’, but enforcement is lax. That’s shameful when we consider that gone are the days when a simple “I am not interested” was enough to end SPAM calls. Today’s tele-callers are made of sterner stuff—they readily brush aside objections and are armed with scripts that flirt with emotional manipulation. “Don’t you care about your family’s safety?” or “Why miss this golden investment opportunity?” are some of the tactics used to wear you down.

There is also new brazenness in these calls; when politeness fails, taunts take over. If irritated called parties use the words ‘fines’ or ‘legal consequences’, many callers respond with dismissive guffaws. “Fine us if you can”, one calling agent said in Amritsar. Some have even been reported to have turned aggressive, hurling insults or threatening to call repeatedly until you “give in”.

Selling Your Details

The root of the problem lies in data leaks and the unchecked sale of personal information. According to Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), India’s black market for personal data is worth Rs 500 crore annually. Telemarketers thrive on this, purchasing phone numbers, demographic details and financial information. Mind you, the culprits are not always just rogue agents. Established companies have also been found guilty of selling user data. A sting operation by the Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) exposed how some banks and e-commerce platforms share customer data, fuelling the telemarketing industry.

To combat telemarketing, tech has stepped in where regulation has faltered. Apps like Truecaller and Whoscall help users identify and block SPAM numbers. Truecaller’s 2024 India report showed that its users blocked over 400 crore calls in just six months. But telemarketers are smart too and have latched on to this, changing numbers or using spoofing techniques to bypass detection.

The introduction of AI-powered bots has further complicated things. Bots mimic human conversation superbly, making it hard to identify SPAM calls. Even sophisticated call-blocking algorithms struggle to keep up with the sheer volume and variety of intrusive calls. SPAM also takes a psychological toll. Interruptions during work, family time or sleep disrupt mental well-being. Financial scams associated with telemarketing add to the distress. A study by the Consumer Protection Forum of India says over 12 per cent of SPAM calls are linked to fraud, with victims losing an average of Rs 10,000 per incident.

Soliloquy: At the end of the day, only stronger penalties, better data protection laws, AI-powered solutions and consumer awareness can save the day. It is only an aware and empowered consumer who can make life harder for errant telemarketers. Sure, technology and regulations can offer relief, but the solution lies in a cultural shift—one where privacy is respected and telemarketers face real consequences for their actions. Until then, the next time your mobile phone goes buzz, brace yourself.

The writer is a veteran journalist and communications specialist. He can be reached on [email protected]. Views expressed are personal