Schools, colleges not barred from sending bulk messages

Following queries from a wide section of parents if they would not be able to receive important messages sent from their ward's schools once they register their numbers on National Customer Preference Register (NCPR), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said that it has made provisions to facilitate categories to send transactional messages.

"TRAI has already made adequate provisions in NCPR 2010 to facilitate various categories to send the transactional messages," said the regulator in a statement.

"Educational institutes are also included in these categories to send transactional messages to parents of their students," it added. 

Also in the list are messages sent to its customers by banks, financial institutions, insurance company or credit card companies pertaining to the account of customers.

Even airlines or railways will not be restricted from sending messages to its customers regarding travel schedules, ticket booking and reservation.

A customer will be able to avail these services despite being registered on the NCPR.

Last year, the telecom watchdog announced a set of new measures to curb unsolicited commercial calls and messages, which were to be implemented from Jan 1. This was extended to March 1 and now to March 21.

The regulations include a fine ranging from Rs.25,000 to Rs.250,000 for the defaulting companies and allocation of a number starting with '70' to the telemarketers making it easy for the customers to recognise their numbers.

Unlike the previous regulation that asked customers to register their numbers in 'do not call' list, users can now choose from different categories like 'fully blocked' or 'partially blocked', under which a customer can receive communication for categories of his choice.