Modi govt forms committee to draft guidelines to address issue of unsolicited calls, spam messages

The government has announced the formation of a committee to draft guidelines aimed at tackling the problem of pesky, promotional, or unsolicited calls received by consumers, which infringe upon their privacy rights. "To address the issue of pesky/promotional or unsolicited commercial calls received by the consumers, the Department of Consumer Affairs has constituted a Committee," an official statement said. Efforts have been underway by the Department of Telecommunication and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to combat the issue of spam messages and pesky calls, particularly from registered telemarketers. "During the meeting, it was observed all the Telemarketers from various sectors viz banking and financial services, real estate, e-commerce platforms and other commercial entities have already been advised to get 140 number series prefixed to their phone number so that a consumer can identify the caller," the statement said.