Telemarketers oppose Trai's 'do-call' registry

Industry lobby, Mobile Marketing Association, along with other industry bodies, is submitting a proposal to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), opposing the possibility of a 'do-call' registry.

This registry would restrict all promotional calls and text messages to consumers, unless consumers register on Trai website asking for marketing calls.

Trai came up with a consultation paper on do-call registry earlier this year. The move came more than two years after it introduced a 'do not call' registry, where consumers who did not need marketing calls and SMSes could register, after which, such promotions would be stopped.

Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) Co-chairman Rajiv Hiranandani says the country has around 100 companies in the business of push SMSes to consumers.

In South America, where do-call registry was implemented, revenues from push SMS campaigns went down by 95 per cent.

MMA is an international trade body that represents telecommunications ecosystem and has 45 members in India. It represents a wide range of companies, including service providers like Vodafone, brands like Coca-Cola and agencies like BDA Connect, among others.

"Do-not-call registry has not affected our businesses much because of the lethargy in consumers to go ahead and register. Though a larger number of people have registered for do-not-disturb (DND), it is a very small percentage of the total number of mobile users," says Hiranandani.

If this lethargy with registrations translates to a 'do call' registry, the industry claims it will loose even the consumers interested in receiving marketing promotions.

A do-call registry will not address the problem of unregistered telemarketers.  "Trai should enforce regulations and impose heftier fines on telemarketers who violate the DND regulation," says Hiranandani.

Marketers say blocking all marketing calls may not help consumers, as there are a few who are in favour of receiving such calls.

Consumers do register for promotional messages, which could also be affected. For instance, calls and SMSes from a loyalty programme of Shoppers Stop's First Citizen programme, or subscriber alerts of TravelGuru with new holiday offers.

Some companies also send mobile coupons, wherein they give discounts to be availed of by producing the SMS. Marketers suggest Trai should allow consumers to 'switch on' and 'switch off' do-call or do-not-call registry for specific time periods, products and companies. This becomes qualified lead, which is routed to registered companies.

"Once consumers begin to see value in receiving calls, they will have more meaningful dialogue with telemarketers and, once companies begin to see value, they will not have to deploy an army of people to generate leads (to seek people who are interested in promotional offers)," an industry organisation wrote in a letter to Trai.

Mobile marketers say bulk SMS business has already become an extremely cut-throat business with very low margins. "Consumers despise it and brands are becoming more and more aware of brand erosion it brings to them. If the proposed solution is implemented, bulk SMS campaigns would become premium and there are better margins for the service provider," the letter says.