Limit on SMSes confuses online users

CHENNAI: Cellphone users across the country have been heaving a collective sigh of relief ever since the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India announced its decision to curb spam-messaging by putting a cap of 100 smses per day per SIM. However, as the new regulation came into force on September 27, doubts and confusion have begun to surface among those relying on SMS confirmations for various services like online bill payments and shipments in the city.Take Bharath for example. On Tuesday night, he made an online transaction to pay a phone bill using his credit card, but received no SMS confirmation of the same from both the cellphone service provider and his bank. On Wednesday, he, however, received confirmation for two other phone bills that he paid for his family. “If there is a rule in the new Telecom consumer preference regulations that commercial SMSes should not be sent from 9 am to 9 pm, these essential confirmations should be made at least the next day through SMSes,” he said. Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations in 2011, however, state that transactional messages like those from banks and airlines, will not have time restrictions and hence should have been made to the customer as soon as Bharath made the payment.Similar confusion continues to prevail over the SMSes sent by government initiatives, which were said to be exempted from the 100 messages limit. However, cellphone users on Wednesday were unable to know details of the ration stock in their respective shop, a detail that is usually made available by sending an SMS to 9789006492. Officials of the State Consumer Helpline confirmed that the SMS facility to know ration stock was still existing but no reply was sent to those cellphone numbers which sent the SMS on Wednesday. “While relevant SMSes like these are not reaching us now, I still get messages like that about sale and exhibitions at nearby boutiques,” said Nivitha. While there is fear that opting for the Do Not Disturb Registry or registering at the National Consumer Preference Register will completely block out all these essential SMS confirmations, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Wednesday issued a clarification note that these important SMS services — like that of banks, airlines and schools — would reach customers even without them de-registering themselves from the National Customer Preference Registry. The 100-SMS limit would also not apply to them.