industry

Trai mulls scrapping dual pricing of text messages


KOLKATA: The sector regulator plans to scrap a rule that mandates a telco to offer only upto 100 text messages at a concessional rate and price anything beyond that at a minimum 50 paise a message. This is since it believes stringent regulations are now in place to thwart pesky calls and text messages from telemarketers.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said on Tuesday there’s no longer any need to restrict the number of text messages allowed to be offered at a concessional rate nor regulate the tariff for short message service (SMS) since robust regulations are in place to ward off unwanted calls and text messages.

Issuing the draft Telecommunications Tariff (65
th Amendment) Order, 2020, pertaining to tariff regulation for text messages, Trai said it “proposes withdrawal of regulatory provisions relating to tariff for text messages introduced in November 2012”.

The regulator has cited rules it had issued in July 2018, which had made it mandatory for telcos to seek subscriber consent for receiving unsolicited commercial communications from telemarketers. It had also then called for deployment of blockchain – or digital ledger technology (DLT) used to manage crypto-currencies — to ensure telemarketing messages are sent only to subscribers from authorised entities.

Deadlines for stakeholder comments and counter-comments on Trai’s latest draft SMS tariff regulations are March 3 and March 17 respectively.

Rajan Mathews, director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), said Trai’s proposal to “allow operators to set their own tariffs to deal with spam messages is welcome,” and especially “its emphasis on forbearance on tariff matters”.

The COAI represents Reliance Jio Infocomm, Airtel and Vodafone Idea.

Mathews though reiterated “COAI’s previous concerns around unregistered telemarketers,” and called for “some type of disincentive to discourage spam from unscrupulous unregistered telemarketers that might continue to try and bypass the new (proposed) regulation”.

Trai, on its part, said, it has always believed that a policy of light touch regulation for tariff framework gives telcos the freedom to design tariffs according to prevailing market conditions, which has resulted in the emergence of new and innovative products at affordable prices to consumers.

Trai has been examining the issue of unwanted calls and text messages since 2007 and brought out the first regulation in 2011. Although the regulator established the DND Registry in 2010, it acknowledged in May 2018 that new rules were needed as the registry had failed to rein in the menace. It eventually launched the DND app in June 2017, but that didn’t help.





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