Indian government has disconnected telephone numbers of nearly 51,000 telemarketers who had not registered themselves with the department but were carrying on with their marketing activities.

This is a good step. Ever since the Do not disturb registry was launched in India, the telemarketing companies were directed to follow the guidelines and to register themselves.

Agents of many companies engaged in telemarketing. This mainly included insurance companies, mutual funds, investment companies, real estate marketing companies and health product marketers. Among insurance companies, many people had filed complaints with telecom regulatory against Prudential ICICI, Birla SunLife, BhartiAxa Insurance and many other industry majors using telemarketing calls to sell their plans and products.

Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora has taken the right step by blocking numbers of companies not following the guidelines. This will provide relief for many mobile and landline subscribers across India, who have been suffering due to spam calls. In a written reply to Rajya Sabha, the minister informed that 51,181 telephones were disconnected by 30 July, 2012. Only with strict implementation of rules, the Do Not Disturb Registry can offer relief to subscribers.