The document discusses new TRAI regulations regarding telemarketing in India. The key points are: 1. TRAI regulations distinguish between transactional and promotional communications and allow customers to opt out of receiving promotional messages by registering in the National Customer Preference Register (NCPR). 2. If a company generates leads and contacts customers by phone or SMS, they will now need to find alternative lead generation methods or register as a telemarketer due to the new restrictions. 3. Written customer permission is not sufficient for contacting customers who have registered for the NCPR's Do Not Disturb service, as TRAI has no way to verify such permission. Heavy penalties can be imposed for non-compliance.

1. TRAI DND Regulations Cutting Your Business’ Wings?-1025155-233916<br />DEMYSTIFYING tHE TRAI rEGULATION<br />The new TRAI regulation states the usage guidelines of a telecom resource by a telemarketer based on the directives defined by TRAI. The instructions issued by TRAI are different for registered customers and non-registered customers in NCPR. TRAI regulation further segregates Transactional and Promotional communication pertaining to the end customer.<br />The end customer has following 3 choices –<br />a. Fully blocked – Can receive transactional communication as defined by TRAI.<br />b. Partially blocked - Can opt-in to receive content from one or more categories out of 7, defined by TRAI.<br />c. Not registered in NCPR – Can receive both transactional and promotional communication, where transactional communication is permitted 24*7 and promotional communication is limited from 9 AM - 9 PM.<br />categories as mentioned by trai for NCPR<br /> <br />Transactional Messages<br /> <br />Promotional Messages are stated as being any message that contains promotional material or an advertisement of a product or service.<br />What is the NCPR<br />NCPR is referred to as National Customer Preference Register wherein the registered customers may choose from the 7 categories mentioned by dialing 1909.<br /> <br />How is your company affected?<br />If your company generates leads and then contacts them by phone and SMS, after September 27, 2011, your company will need to find another means of lead generation. The TRAI regulation makes it difficult for companies to reach out to their prospects. Does this mean that your company needs to register as a telemarketer? Unless your company plans on using an intermediary service, the answer is a resounding ‘Yes!’ This means that the TRAI regulations apply to you. Non-compliance can earn your company a penalty that ranges from a monetary penalty all the way till getting blacklisted. <br />As per the new TRAI guidelines, companies now can’t call up prospects even if the contact was initiated by the prospect. All forms of contact – solicited and unsolicited – are off the table. Companies that use Lead Generation forms will no longer be able to call the phone numbers generated from these forms. In addition to that, companies can no longer send automated SMSes to their customers anymore.<br />can your company send messages to your own customers?<br />Your company can’t send Transactional Messages using DND=OFF to any customers who have registered their number on DND. Even if your customers have given your company official opt-in permission to receive messages, your company still can’t send messages to those customers who are on the DND. Therefore, unsolicited AND solicited means of communication is off the table for these customers / prospects.<br />Can written permission from dnd customers that they want to receive messages be used as Confirmation for sending messages?<br />Written permission or otherwise from the customers to receive messages from the company can’t be used as a means to send messages or make calls. These permission letters are not accepted by the TRAI as the intermediary has no means to know of such permission. Your company faces a very heavy penalty if any of your customers, currently on DND, file a complaint with TRAI for a contact made under the current provisions of NCPR.<br />How is your company affected after September 27, 2011?<br />If your company generates leads and then contacts them by phone and SMS, after September 27, 2011, your company will need to find another means of lead generation. The TRAI regulation makes it difficult for companies to reach out to their prospects. Does this mean that your company needs to register as a telemarketer? Unless your company plans on using an intermediary service, the answer is definitely a ‘Yes!’ This means that the TRAI regulations apply to you. Non-Compliance can earn your company a penalty that ranges from a monetary penalty all the way till getting blacklisted for 2 years with just 7 complaints.<br />Is there an alternative?<br />The only plausible alternative would be for companies to interact with customers when the customer calls itself. Therefore ‘Call Ins’ have suddenly become the most valuable point of customer interaction. Therefore, marketers who make expensive and comprehensive digital media plans will find their task to be a lot tougher. After all, how does one find out which digital medium results in the most number of ‘call ins.’ Marketers will have to turn to a keyword-level call tracking solution that can tell them which keyword or web property drives the greatest number of phone calls.<br />So, is there an alternative? The answer is a resounding YES!<br />It is time to take action and find out how your business can benefit from AdoRoi’s o2o Click.<br />Here’s a quick preview: http://youtu.be/htJUGfpyK9M <br />If you have any other queries or if you fancy a discussion about the TRAI regulations, drop us a line anytime on sales.in@adoroi.com.<br />