It seems irritating calls never stop. Perpetrators of either nuisance or fraudulent calling rules the telephone lines. The callers do not mind whether you are at a funeral or in an operation theatre undergoing surgery. Many people get untimely calls with loan offers or from a home seller at the moment a relative’s dead body is being brought home. Such an experience of common people is not rare. Such calls are not merely a nuisance but a punishable crime, as such activity adds to the grief one goes through.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) should have brought in place some strict rules and penalties with compensation to the victims who are victims of such nuisance. The victims should have the right to claim damage against irritating calls, which are unsolicited and untimely.
On the other side, there are numerous fraudulent calls, which are serious cyber crimes. Many victims never knew how to deal with such calls and filter the genuine ones. Though there are private apps which filter spam and systems to stop unsolicited calls, the Indian telecom regulator does not have anything effective in place to prevent the rampant misuse of phone lines.
Now TRAI is planning to bring in place a system that can prevent spam, unsolicited and unregistered telecallers. If the new recommendation by TRAI is implemented, it will greatly benefit common users. TRAI has recommended that service providers display caller ID on all phones. Currently, smartphone users rely on native tools or third-party applications to identify callers. In its recommendation, TRAI stated that CNAP should be introduced for Indian telecom users.
Telephone users have long demanded action against fraudulent calls. It is generally difficult to take action against these calls as commercial activities have increased through smartphones. Telecom service providers make money out of the misuse of their customers. Many people, including myself, do not answer unknown calls out of fear that they may be spam. The caller ID and spam protection features, which service providers offer, rely on crowd-sourced data. However, they do not always display the actual name of the user; instead, they show the name the user wants to display. If this practice ends and customers get the real names and information of the callers, it may prevent spam activities. Users can decide whether to take the call or not. If this recommendation were to be implemented, it would be beneficial for both service providers and users. Let us wait and watch.