New ‘stricter’ Do-Not-Disturb SMS service en-route

You have to hand it to telemarketers, they always manage to find the most inconvenient time to call and annoy the hell out of you. The current Do-Not-Disturb (DND) service hasn’t proved to be very effective as many people have complained about receiving unsolicited SMSs and calls from telemarketers despite having signed up for the service. Coming to the aid of the end user, not to mention the protest from Rajya Sabha members as well, telecom minister Kapil Sibal promised a new ‘stricter’ DND number 1909 that would be operational in six weeks’ time.

Peace of mind at last?

With the new service, users can opt to block text messages in several categories such as real estate, credit cards, consumer durables, banking and finance by registering their number in National Do-Not-Call (NDNC). To activate this, users will simply have to send an SMS to 1909 which is toll-free. Now, if for some reason, you still end up getting unsolicited calls or SMSs, there will be heavy fines for anyone who violates the rules. For a first offence, a fine of Rs. 25,000 will be imposed and the same will hold true for subsequent five offences, after which registration of the telemarketer will be terminated. Till now, up to 72,988 registered telemarketers and 18,835 unregistered telemarketers have already been disconnected. Let’s hope this new service puts an end to those pesky callers once and for all.