Not just calls, pesky WhatsApp messages also on govt radar

The government is planning to block not just pesky calls but also unsolicited messages via SMSes and social media platforms such as WhatsApp hard-selling any product or services.

According to new regulations in the works, a fresh algorithm is being written to run a check on phone numbers and messages to see if these are being used for marketing purposes.

As per the current norms, promotional messages need to be sent via headers and not numbers. Through the ‘do not disturb’ (DND) registry, consumers can block these. However, to bypass this, marketing agencies send such messages through phone numbers. Similarly, calls are made using different consumer phone numbers, instead of using telemarketing agency numbers which have a different series.