Stop unwanted messages: BTRC

The telecom regulator has ordered mobile operators to stop sending commercial and promotional messages to subscribers if they choose not to receive those.

The operators were also asked to tell users how to block 'unwanted' messages meant for promotion.

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC)—in a set of directives sent on Thursday—asked the operators to comply with the orders in seven days.

The BTRC has received complaints from many annoyed customers who had received numerous messages about different packages, conditions and unwanted offers, said an official of the regulator.

“So, we have asked the operators to inform the customers about how they can block the unwanted SMSs,” said Md Jahurul Haque, acting chairman of BTRC.

Earlier, the regulator prepared a guideline to introduce the “don't disturb policy”; but it was never implemented.

The telecom watchdog has also directed the operators not to send any SMS between 12am and 8am even if any customer prefers to receive commercial messages, said the BTRC official, who is related with the process.

Every day, mobile users send about 14 crore texts while the number of commercial messages the operators send is much higher than that, he said.

The government also sends a good number of SMSs to communicate with the citizens through the mobile network.

Riding on the mobile network, dozens of firms

have sprung up that send commercial SMSs to the users.

Haque said the regulator has also asked the operators to stop sending SMSs in Bangla language written with English alphabets.

“This bad culture is spreading very fast and is harming our language. We want to protect our language as well.”

Source: thedailystar