Mobile phone users have had a welcome respite for over a week from unsolicited messages since the government banned the use of bulk SMS and MMS messaging services till September 30. This is the first time such a step has been taken in this country. The government’s intent, on the eve of the landmark court ruling in the decades-old Ayodhya title suit, was of course to ensure that mischievous elements could not send out messages in thousands and lakhs that could inflame communal passions and disturb peace and harmony. But the fallout was truly phenomenal, and offered a whole new life of comfort for millions of cellphone users. Imagine the relief that millions got from not being bombarded day in and day out with foreboding messages like “don’t ignore hair loss treat it before it’s too late” or a tempting “earn `20,000 by selling reputed insurance company policies even while sitting at home” or “earn 10 per cent as a professional forex manager”. There were others that were too good to be true: “get `1,00,00,000 tax-free after 21 years. no risk. pay `545 daily for 11 years”; or even “for `27,000 u can get a US visa for 10 years”. Then there were Nigerian-type scamsters from Mumbai’s Mira Road, sending SMSes like “you have won a lottery of over £20,000 in London!” Also, now that the stock market is booming, messages to ensnare gullible investors like a spider to the fly: “loan on shares upto `75 crore at 11 per cent”.
Bulk SMSes have mushroomed like the plague ever since life was made difficult for telemarketers by the “do not call registry” facility provided by the department of telecommunications. Sending bulk commercial SMSes are really cheap for companies or others touting a product or service. You could send three lakh messages for as little as eight paise per message in the premium category or just six paise per message in the economy category. But with the latest ban on SMSes and MMSes in force, even if for a brief period, mobile phone users have tasted blood, and almost every consumer organisation in the country is petitioning the government to ensure that the ban continues indefinitely. Cellphone operators too are not averse to the idea. The only thing that the government should ensure — should it actually contemplate making such a ban permanent — that while shutting off all unsolicited communications, some essential message services — such as banks to their customers, schools/universities to their students/faculty, clubs to their members — are not cut off as well. The mobile operators’ lobby has indicated to the department of telecom that this could be quite feasible.
The telecom watchdog NGO which has been getting over 30-40 complaints against bulk messages every month has given the government and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India two suggestions: one, to set up a “do call registry”, replacing the “do not call” one, which could have around 10 categories (such as for property deals, sales and discounts offers, etc — things potential customers might like to be informed about); and two, a penalty clause and incentivisation scheme. At present the penalty is just a warning for the first offence, then a `1,000 fine for a second offence and disconnection after the third. The NGO has suggested that there should be a `5,000 penalty straightaway for the first unsolicited SMS — and that the complainant should get a share of the fine paid, so that phone users are encouraged to track offenders. Now the ball is in the court of the government and the telecom regulator. Over to Trai!