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Promotional messages: TRCSL pushes for opt-out options for mobile users
View(s):The telecom regulator has ordered all mobile service operators to include an opt-out or unsubscribe option free-of-charge so that users receiving unsolicited promotional messages can choose to stop receiving them.
The decision covers unsolicited promotional messages that the mobile service providers themselves send or are conveyed by third parties, said Oshada Senanayake, Director General of the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka (TRCSL).
Mobile service users can typically choose to receive promotional messages from third party vendors while applying for, say, loyalty cards. But most entities do not get consent, Mr Senanayake said. They extract the numbers through some form of registration and use the information to send short messages (SMS) that the users never asked for.
To make matters worse, the users are required to pay if they wish to unsubscribe from the promotional messages.
After discussions with the TRCSL, mobile service companies have agreed to include the option on their own messages as well as update contracts with third parties to ensure that they obtain end-user consent before flooding them with promotions.
Mr Senananayake said the regulator was looking at updating the 1991 TRC Act to reflect best international practices and to include newer violations.
In most jurisdictions, for instance, even promotional emails must include an unsubscribe option, he added, pointing out that the TRC’s directive yesterday was a “good first step” that all mobile service companies consented with.