Telecom regulator Trai initiates action against Idea

NEW DELHI: Telecom regulator Trai today said it has initiated action against Idea Cellular for not implementing the revised procedure for lodging of complaints against pesky calls and messages through SMS.

"...it was found that all the access providers have implemented the same except Idea Cellular Ltd. The Authority has initiated action against such access provider," Trai said in a statement.

To control the menace of pesky calls and messages, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had issued `The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Tenth Amendment) Regulations, 2012' on November 5, 2012.

Under the revised regulations, Trai has facilitated easy lodging of complaints against unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) through SMS by simply forwarding the UCC SMS to 1909 after appending the telephone number and date of receipt of the SMS.

The changes were to be implemented within 15 days. However, on receiving complaints that some of the operators are not adhering to the revised process, the Authority sought a compliance report wherein it was found that all players have implemented the same except Idea Cellular.

"It has come to the notice of Trai through several complaints that some of the access providers have not implemented the above revised procedure for lodging of UCC complaints through forwarding of SMS," Trai said.