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Solicited commercial communication

I open a savings account with any of the nationalised banks. There is a business relationship established between me and the bank. During the establishment of this business relationship, I consent to receive calls about the product I have purchased or the account I have opened with the bank. In this way, I solicit to receive calls from the establishment. I can always go ahead and tell them that I do not want to be called again on the product which I am using from the bank. This is an example of Solicited commercial communication.

Unsolicited commercial communication

An unsolicited commercial communication is the type of communication in which the caller initiates the call to a person who does not have a commercial business relationship with the caller’s services. To be more clear, the person who is called does not expect the call. Most of us receive these type of calls from DSAs (Direct Service Agent) of Banks and NBFCs (Non-Banking Financial Companies).

What if you do not want to receive unsolicited commercial communication?

There is a DNCR (Do Not Call Registry) service prevalent in the western countries in which the customers can file in their telephone numbers at which they do not want to be disturbed for unsolicited commercial telemarketing calls. The establishments making calls are to screen the numbers through this DNCR and then make calls. If a customer opts to file his number in the DNCR and still receives unsolicited calls, legal action can be arranged against the party which called.

Is there a DNCR in India?

Currently, as far as I can see, there is not a centralised DNCR in India. But there are strict guidelines from RBI regarding the unsolicited commercial communication. The individual banks and NFBCs are to setup their own DNCR. And I read somewhere that a centralised registry is gonna be setup wherein the customer does not have to register for the individual DNCRs set by Banks and NFBCs, instead he needs to file the numbers in the centralised DNCR which will be screened by the banks and NFBCs before a telemarketing call is made.

Where can I find a DNCR list of Indian Banks and NFBCs?

I have compiled a list here. This is a list of few banks and not a comprehensive one. Thanks to a colleague at office who mailed the list of banks to me. Use IE for all these links as a few will not open in Firefox.

• ICICI Bank
• State Bank of India
• Bank of Baroda
• HDFC Bank
• Standard Chartered
• HSBC
• ABN AMRO Bank
• CitiBank
• DeutscheBank

What if I still get a lot of calls after opting this list?

When using the DNCR, the bank will take the request in and processes it in 30 or 45 days. Give them their requested period of time to process. If you still receive call, show courtesy and tell the telemarketer that you are on the bank’s DNCR and not to call you anymore. If again you receive it, you can consult your lawyer for legal proceedings. But, I am not sure whether there is a law for this.

I really appreciate the goodwill of the guy who invented this tactic keeping the blind in mind. After all it is usability everyone yearns for without their knowledge.

P.S.:- Am I the only to know this little but important thing too late?