India to regulate SMS spam while helping marketers target the right audience

Mobile spam has been a recurring problem in India. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) attempts to solve this by issuing new guidelines to protect India’s 750 million mobile phone users, and at the same time help marketers target mobile users more effectively.

According to the new guidelines, telemarketers would have to cross check their database with the National Consumer Preference Registry, updated by TRAI twice a week, to ensure that all outbound messages and calls are opted into by the recipient. Mobile operators are also required to do a second-level check to ensure mobile consumers are not spammed.

According to the Afaqs report, Scrubber, an app launched by India-based SMS GupShup that enables marketers to update their Do Not Call lists as per TRAI’s database, has been tested on its monthly volume of over three billion messages, as well as on multiple network operator locations.

With all related parties complying with the guidelines, Viswanath Ramachandran, chief technology officer of SMS GupShup said “Marketers would now be able to target mobile users more effectively, and communicate with only those who are interested in receiving their communications, providing an end to mobile spam.”

The new guidelines ensure that fines are imposed on carriers and telemarketers not complying with the norms.