COAI Asks Trai to Rethink Norms for Pesky Calls Citing Financial Reasons

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has approached Trai to request the regulator not to finalise regulations concerning pesky calls and unwanted messages. The industry body is of the opinion that the draft regulations which the Trai is pondering upon would further burden the operators amidst tough financial times. The implementation of the rules in the current form would mean large surplus costing on the carriers’ part. Before proceeding, COAI is urging the regulator to make a cost-benefit analysis.

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COAI said in its letter to Trai “The telecom sector is reeling under a Rs 7.6 lakh-crore debt burden, and obligations contained in the draft rules would require operators to incur huge additional costs to completely change their existing internal systems without generating substantial benefits, which is why Trai should undertake a cost-benefit analysis in consultation with all stakeholders before finalising the UCC regulation.”

To recall, Trai had proposed very stringent regulations to put a hold on pesky calls and unwanted messages on the network. The norms which were being put forth by Trai dictated the telcos to follow a set guideline for dealing with spam calls. Also, Trai clarified that telcos would be penalised if they are caught violating the established guidelines. The regulator had outlined penalties of Rs 1,000 to Rs 47 lakhs per violation in case the carriers fail to stop unsolicited commercial communication.

COAI Director General Rajan Mattews said opposing the penalisation “Operators have considerably reduced UCC complaints to a very low level, and hence must not be penalised as we believe Trai intends to reduce the UCC menace and not earn revenue through financial disincentives.”