New Delhi: On July 25, the government announced an extension of the deadline for public feedback on new draft guidelines aimed at reducing spam calls and messages. The revised deadline is now August 8. This extension follows requests from various federations, associations, and other stakeholders, as stated by the Ministry of Food and Consumer Affairs.

The ministry mentioned that numerous suggestions and comments have been received and are currently being reviewed.

These draft guidelines, developed after discussions with telecom companies and regulatory bodies, define "business communication" as messages related to goods or services, such as promotional content. However, they do not include personal communications.

Key aspects of the draft guidelines are:

• They will apply to all organizations involved in or benefiting from such communications.
• Communications will be deemed unsolicited if they do not adhere to recipient consent or preferences.
• Communications that violate the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) rules on commercial messages will be prohibited.

The ministry highlighted that the new guidelines are designed to tackle the issue of unregistered marketers using private numbers, a gap that remains despite TRAI's 2018 regulations for registered telemarketers.

Furthermore, the 'Do Not Disturb' registry has been effective for managing communications from registered telemarketers, but those from unregistered sources are still largely uncontrolled.

The draft guidelines aim to enhance consumer protection by curbing intrusive and unauthorized marketing practices.

Latest Updates:

Indian Cyber Crime Centre Cracks Down on Fraudulent Websites, Introduces New Reporting Features

NATO Identifies Significant Gaps in Europe’s Defense Amid Rising Russian Threats

Cyber Fraud Alert: Scammers Targeting Smartphone Users with Fake DoT Calls