With effect from September 27th, 2011, promotional unsolicited SMS should not be sent to mobile numbers which are listed in “National Customer Preference Register” NCPR.

Telephone customers (landline and mobile) can register their telephone numbers with their telecom service provider for inclusion in the National Consumer Preference Register (NCPR) by dialing or sending sms to toll-free number 1909.

Here are some of the highlights of the regulations by TRAI to curb Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC) to landline and mobile users.

1. Telemarketer should not make telemarketing voice call or send SMS – between 9 PM  and 9 AM to any phone user irrespective of the fact that such subscriber is registered on NCPR or not.
2. Mobile subscribers who are sending bulk SMS (categorized as “unregistered telemarketers”)  will not be permitted to send more than 100 SMS per day per SIM except on blackout days or days specially notified by TRAI.  Hereafter, none of the mobile users will be able to send more than 100 SMS per day per SIM. But as per regulations, special permission can be obtained by anyone from the mobile service provider to relax this limit.
3. All registered Telemarketers have been allocated 10 digit number of “140” number series. Therefore, you can identify the telemarketing calls even if you are not registered with NCPR. You might receive a telemarketing call starting with +91140 on your mobile or 0140 in your landline phone.
4. Any user can register his/her number with the NCPR under two categories – fully blocked and partially blocked category  to block unwanted SMS. If the user opts for partially blocked category, he/she has to choose the options:

• 1- Banking/Insurance/Financial products/credit cards,
• 2- Real Estate,
• 3- Education,
• 4- Health,
• 5- Consumer goods and automobiles,
• 6- Communication/Broadcasting/Entertainment/IT,
• 7-Tourism and Leisure.

If he/she chose option “4. Health” he/she will receive telemarketing calls and bulk SMS related to Health. This choice can be modified any time by calling or sending SMS to 1909.

Promotional SMS can be identified by special alpha numeric sender IDs. Telemarketers will be allotted a special code by the mobile service provider. Mobile users can identify promotional SMS just by looking at the SMS SenderID.

For more details visit http://nccptrai.gov.in/nccpregistry/

Check if a mobile number is in (NDNC) Do Not Call Registry (now called National Consumer Preference Register (NCPR) http://nccptrai.gov.in/nccpregistry/search.misc

November 1, 2011 (01-11-11) Update: Send 200 SMS per day SIM