Bajaj Finance, a financial company in India, has announced that it will provide an option for individuals to opt out of telemarketing calls.
During the launch of its mutual funds business, Sanjiv Bajaj, the managing director of Bajaj Finance, stated that within three months, their website and web app will include a feature where users can click to never receive calls again.
Opt Out of Telemarketing Calls, But With A Catch: Bajaj Finserv CEO
Getting himself into a controversy, he emphasized that once users choose this option, they should refrain from applying for Bajaj Finance’s products and solutions.
He stated, “You will see in three months on our website and our web app, an option, you click it, and we will never bother you again. You have the right to be forgotten with us. But then make sure you never come back to us for our products and solutions.”
Bajaj mentioned that the company receives around 1,500 complaints per quarter from individuals who feel bombarded with calls. Despite this, Bajaj Finance issues 3 million loans each month, aiming to provide financial inclusion to a large number of people.
Around 15% of the company’s business is generated through telemarketing calls, but they aim to reduce this figure to 10% and eventually eliminate it entirely.
TRAI’s Instructions To Telecom Operators
In response to the growing issue of pesky mobile calls and text messages, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) directed telecom service providers to verify registered headers and message templates on the distributed ledger technologies (DLT) platform. Unverified headers and message templates were to be blocked within specified time frames.
The TRAI also instructed mobile operators to deactivate temporary headers immediately after their intended time of use. These measures were implemented to prevent unauthorized promotions and misuse of telecom resources.
To comply with the TRAI’s directives, mobile operators have begun monitoring and preventing spam calls using an artificial intelligence and machine learning-based system since May 1. This technological measure is seen as a significant step in addressing unsolicited commercial communications.
The system operates on the DLT platform used by telecom service providers and is expected to receive incremental updates with corresponding rules to be released soon.
