TRAI Latest Rules Applicable From Today

 

 In what is clearly going to be seen as a relief for some businesses, and probably prevent some of them from going to court against its SMS Spam regulations, the telecom regulator TRAI has decided to exclude the following categories from the 100 SMS per day limit:

(i) Dealers of the Telecom Service Providers and DTH Operators for sending request for electronic recharge on mobile numbers;
(ii) e-ticketing agencies for responding to e-ticketing request made by its customers;
(iii) The social networking sites – Facebook, Twitter, Orkut, LinkedIn and GooglePlus to its members pertaining to activities relating to their accounts based on their verifiable options;
(iv) Agencies providing directory services – Justdial, Zatse, Callezee, Getit and Askme.
It appears that these are being seen as transaction messages. 

- On Social Networking Sites: The inclusion of social networking sites is a curious one. How does one define a social networking site? For example, a group messaging site like SMS GupShup clearly isn’t one, and neither is the MyToday set of services from Netcore, because these are one-to-many communications, not one to one, and individuals are not connected to each other. It eventually depends on how telecom operators interpret the definition of social networks.
- On Free SMS Sites: sites like Way2SMS and 160by2 can become SMS based mobile networks, and be excluded under the 100 SMS restriction if their communication is restricted to only entities connected to each other on the network. This is surely a lifeline for their business, but the question remains – apart from online advertising, how will they monetize?
Please bear in mind that the regulation specifically mentions a few social networking sites, and if the TRAI’s definition is limited to only these specific sites, then that is unfortunate. The other thing is that the definition of a social networking site is being left to telecom operators, and they can thus choose to favor whichever site they want to allow. This gives them inordinate power, and creates a situation for graft.
- On E-Ticketing: this will come as a relief for cab services and also bus services like RedBus, because information on cabs and buses booked would not have been treated as non-commercial communication.
- On directory services: the update is vague. What is classified as a commercial communication, and what is a non-commercial communication here?
Still, there are issues with the restrictions:
- Correct me if I’m wrong, but, the 100 SMS limit per day per SIM will still apply to IT businesses wherein critical uptime and downtime alerts are sent to customers.

- 100 SMS per day per SIM limit on consumers: I think the TRAI’s earlier plan to limit special tariff vouchers was a better one – why restrict the consumers freedom to send SMS. If you’re willing pay extra to send individual messages – why not?
Market dynamics, and a few telecom operators let this situation get out of hand – this could have been addressed by increasing the cost of messaging, instead of creating rules that are open to interpretation and misinterpretation.
That said, today has been a SPAM free day – one of the few in months – and for that, I am glad.

NTR Jr injured in car accident

Hyderabad, March 27:- Junior NTR, popular Telugu film actor and star campaigner of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), has suffered multiple injuries after a road accident in Andhra Pradesh, police said Friday.The accident took place late Thursday when the Tata Safari vehicle in which he was travelling turned turtle and hit a tree in Nalgonda district, 170 km east of here. Junior NTR, grandson of legendary actor and TDP founder N.T. Rama Rao, was returning to Hyderabad from Khammam district after campaigning when the accident occurred. He was driving the vehicle. He suffered injuries on head, temple, shoulder and elbow and has been shifted to the Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) in Secunderabad here. Doctors said he was out of danger but needed complete rest for four to six weeks. Two people accompanying him were also injured. They have been identified as actor Rajiv Kanakala, who was sitting beside Junior NTR, and junior artist Srinivas Reddy, who was on the rear seat. The actor's supporters and TDP leaders in other vehicles in his convoy first shifted them to a hospital in Suryapet town for first aid. They were later brought to KIMS in the state capital. According to the police, the accident occurred at a sharp turn at Mothe village near Suryapet town. "Apparently, he could not see the turn and suddenly applied the brakes leading to the accident," Nalgonda District Superintendent of Police B. Srinivas told reporters. Junior NTR, who hit the campaign trail two weeks ago, was returning to Hyderabad to celebrate Ugadi (Telugu New Year day) with his family and also to hold talks with TDP president N. Chandrababu Naidu for a party ticket to one of his followers. According to informed sources, Junior NTR was unhappy with Naidu for denying an assembly ticket to his follower and the TDP chief had called him for talks. Junior NTR's relatives other senior TDP leaders have rushed to the hospital. His father is actor N. Harikrishna. Actor N. Balakrishna, who is also campaigning for the TDP and rushed to the hospital, said: "The blessings of his fans have saved his life". NTR's elder son-in-law Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao, who is a legislator of the ruling Congress party, also rushed to the hospital. The accident dealt a blow to TDP's campaign as Junior NTR was attracting huge crowds since he launched his campaign in Srikakulam district in north coastal Andhra. His resemblance to his legendary grandfather and the theatrical punch in his speeches proved a big hit with people. He covered six districtS during the last 14 days, reminding people of the popularity of his grandfather, who had created a record by coming to power within nine months of launching the TDP in 1982. Junior NTR was originally scheduled to cover the entire state in 40 days.

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