I have written multiple times in the past about the ill-thought out TRAI guidelines on allegedly combating spam. If ever there was something that was not good for both consumers and businesses, this is one such set of rules. They come into force from today, and I am quite sure they are going to disrupt plenty of people’s lives when they realise a lot of the good things that SMSes did are no longer going to be available to them.
In India, SMS has become a part of the business processes of many organisations – and consequently, a part of life for consumers. Yes, one of the side-effects has been that of spam, as the price of SMS has fallen rapidly, and businesses have realised its utility. At the same time, most consumers have also learnt to deal with the increase in spam. Phone displays have become better showing the senderID and first few words in the message, so it is as easy to ignore as it is to open.
Putting arbitrary constraints on what are important tools for customer engagement and acquisition is just not done.
I have been off the Do Not Call list for 9 months now, and I can assure now there is no problem dealing with the increase in messages (or even calls). The good things SMSes deliver (news updates, alerts, PNR info, movie tickets info, etc.) far outweigh the ‘unsolicited commercial’ messages. My reco: get your number off the list!
Note: I am an interested party because my company offers SMS services to enterprises.
