DnD - How to Report/Block Marketing Calls and SMS in India?

Getting too many marketing calls and SMS on your phone?

Don't worry, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI) has put up strict regulations on unsolicited tele-marketing calls and messages and ordered all telecom companies to implement web based unsolicited commercial communication complaint lodging system via its "The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2010".

As per this rule, "telecom consumers who do not wish to receive unsolicited commercial call or SMSs, may register their preference(s) on National Customer Preference Register(NCPR)."

How to Block Marketing Calls and SMS on my Mobile Phone?

First step to block unsolicited calls and SMS is to register with NCPR, also called as Do Not Disturb(DND) registry.

You may call 1909 and request to add your number to the DND registry or send an SMS to 1909 in the below format:

START [OPTIONS]

where OPTIONS is the block categories as below:

• 0 - All Categories
• 1 - Banking / Insurance / Financial products / credit cards
• 2 - Real Estate
• 3 - Education
• 4 - Health
• 5 - Consumer goods and automobiles
• 6 - Communication / Broadcasting / Entertainment / IT
• 7 - Tourism and Leisure

For example, if you want to block Real Estate and Health related promotional calls SMS START 2,4

If you want to remove the block, send STOP to 1909.

You will receive a unique registration number within 24 hours of the registration and the status can be tracked with this link.

I am still receiving marketing calls. What to do?

If you are receiving promotional calls even after registering with DND, you may register a complaint with your service provider as below. Please note that you should wait for 7 days after registering with DND before making a complaint.

You may call 1909 and provide the detials to the operator or send an SMS to 1909 in the below format:

the unsolicited commercial communication, 
XXXXXXXXXX, dd/mm/yy

where XXXXXXXXXX is the number from which you received the call or message. The space between the fileds is not mandatory. An example message given below:

You have won $50000 reply for details, 
8888888888, 11/01/13

Please note that the complaint must be made within 3 days of receipt of the marketing call or message. This is applicable to both mobile and land line users.

You may check the complaint status using this link.