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Telcos told to call time out on nuisance calls, texts
View(s):Nuisance messages and calls to mobile phone users have attracted the attention of the telecom regulator following numerous public complaints.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka has issued guidelines to telecom services providers on promotional messages and automated calls generated by external parties, a senior official said.
The official told the Sunday Times that all telcos have agreed to comply with the guidelines.
He said the regulator has received a “fair number of complaints” from mobile telephone users who receive unsolicited texts and calls from third parties. Most are promotional messages for products and services.
There are five main mobile services operators in the country and more than 28 million subscribers.
In June, the regulator wrote to all telcos to comply with clauses on sending bulk messages.
Bulk SMS customers have been asked to refrain from sending promotional text messages without the consent of mobile users.
Telecom operators have been instructed to maintain a list of ports that are authorized to generate promotional messages and to ensure that all messages transmitted would be with the consent of registered subscribers.
Telecom operators have also been told to publish information on methods of blocking promotional messages generated by a particular port free of charge.
Meanwhile, the regulator began a public awareness campaign this week urging people to not redial unknown numbers from international parties following missed calls.
Those who redial such numbers incur heavy charges to their dismay.
“Some groups from certain countries are misleading in this manner to induce local subscribers to return such calls,” a public notice issued by the department read.