Bajaj Finance, HDFC Group Behind Most Spam Calls: Survey

Bajaj Finance and HDFC Group top the list of the two biggest pesky callers, according to a survey report by Local Circles.

Out of over 12,000 responses, 40% said that they receive the highest number of unsolicited calls from Bajaj Finance. Moreover, 15% indicated HDFC Life Insurance, 12% indicated HDFC Bank, and 4% indicated Kotak Mahindra Bank, according to the survey report.

Furthermore, 60% of respondents said that they receive three or more spam calls on average every day in the past 12 months.

However, this has dipped from 66% in February 2023. "The dip, though marginal, is encouraging as it shows that proper implementation of the TRAI directive can bring about further improvement in containing spam calls to mobile subscribers," the report said.

The data also shows that while 30% of the respondents get one to two spam calls on average every day, 36% indicated that they get three to five spam calls minimum, almost daily. And 21% of respondents indicated six–10 spam calls, according to the report.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India had issued a warning to entities like banks, other financial institutions, insurance companies, trading companies and businesses to get their content templates registered.

However, 90% of over 11,000 respondents admitted that they get spam calls despite being registered on the Do-Not-Disturb list.

"This clearly indicates that the DND list is still not working for consumers," the report noted.

The survey received over 60,000 responses from citizens located in 378 districts in India. 64% of respondents were men, while 36% were women.

However, the do-not-disturb register is set to get a legal mandate to protect users from unsolicited commercial messages and calls in the new Telecommunication Act, 2023. The sender of such messages will have to obtain the prior consent of users.

The operators will also be required to establish an online mechanism to enable users to register any grievance pertaining to their services and for redressal of grievances.

It will be the "duty" of users to not furnish any false particulars, suppress any material information, or impersonate another person while establishing their identity for availing of telecommunication services.