From next month TRAI will be making the mobile operators responsible for allowing unwanted calls and text messages that have been drowning mobile-phone users. TRAI will also levy heavy fines on telecom companies that allow calls to be made to people on Do Not Call list.
The biggest change to current law will hold carriers responsible when telemarketers contact people on the Do Not Call registry. Under the new law carriers will face a fine of $2,200 for the first offense; $11,000 for the second offense; and $22,000 for each subsequent offense. The new rules were announced Dec. 1, yet enforcement has been delayed while officials and the industry worked out a key provision that lets subscribers know when a call or text message is from a telemarketer.
Under the provision, telemarketers' phone numbers must start by the numbers "140" on caller-ID screens and commercial text messages must have standard headers that will identify them.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Backlog of consumer cases rises
There are three and a half lakh cases pending to be resolved in various consumer courts in the country at the end of April this year. Uttar Pradesh (UP) followed by Maharashtra and Rajasthan had the highest number of cases pending in their respective states.
The backlog of cases has been rising by about two percent every year since 2005 even as the number of consumer applications filed for redressal has grown from 23.5 lakh until December 2005 to 35 lakh until April 2011, representing a near 50 percent increase.
The growth in consumer complaints shows growing consumer awareness about their rights as much as it raises doubts over the efficacy of India being billed as the prime destination for global consumer brands.
A ZRG study of the official data at the Consumer Affairs Ministry shows that UP topped the list of pending cases with about one lakh consumer complaints pending to be heard.
Best and worst states in respect of pending cases in consumer courts are:
Five Best States in 2011
Lakshadweep – 7
Sikkim – 16
Daman & Diu – 23
Andaman & Nicobar Island – 33
Arunachal Pradesh – 40
Five Worst States in 2011
Uttar Pradesh - 110774
Maharashtra – 35338
Rajasthan – 27557
Haryana – 27425
Gujarat – 23341
The backlog of cases has been rising by about two percent every year since 2005 even as the number of consumer applications filed for redressal has grown from 23.5 lakh until December 2005 to 35 lakh until April 2011, representing a near 50 percent increase.
The growth in consumer complaints shows growing consumer awareness about their rights as much as it raises doubts over the efficacy of India being billed as the prime destination for global consumer brands.
A ZRG study of the official data at the Consumer Affairs Ministry shows that UP topped the list of pending cases with about one lakh consumer complaints pending to be heard.
Best and worst states in respect of pending cases in consumer courts are:
Five Best States in 2011
Lakshadweep – 7
Sikkim – 16
Daman & Diu – 23
Andaman & Nicobar Island – 33
Arunachal Pradesh – 40
Five Worst States in 2011
Uttar Pradesh - 110774
Maharashtra – 35338
Rajasthan – 27557
Haryana – 27425
Gujarat – 23341
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