Bank agents told to sign up with DoT

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has asked all banks and their call centres "� along with direct selling agents (DSAs) and direct marketing agents (DMAs) employed by them "� to register as telemarketers with the department of telecommunications (DoT).

The central bank has also asked banks to expedite the process of registration with the DoT, after the department noted a tardy response by banks in registering telemarketers. The RBI had earlier made it mandatory for banks to use only the services of telemarketers registered with the DoT.

About 80 per cent of telemarketing across all sectors is accounted for by banks and around 90 per cent of banks' telemarketing activities are outsourced to DSAs and DMAs.

The central bank, in consultation with the DoT, has also decided to include banks and their own call centres under the purview of telemarketers after a review of guidelines.

"The guidelines for telemarketers issued by the DoT defines a telemarketer as any person or legal entity engaged in the activity of telemarketing (transmission of any message through telecommunication service for the purpose of soliciting or promoting any commercial transaction in relation to goods, investments or services). It has been decided, in consultation with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), that in addition to DSAs/DMAs, banks, their call centres, who make solicitation calls, are also required to be registered as telemarketers with the DoT," the RBI said.

The Trai has also specified that banks and their call centres will have to furnish details of telephone numbers used for telemarketing.

In July 2007, the RBI had asked banks to deploy services of telemarketers, DSAs and DMAs, with a valid registration certificate from the DoT. Banks were also told to furnish a list of telemarketers engaged by them, along with the registered telephone numbers used by them, to the Indian Banks' Association (IBA). The IBA would forward the list to the Trai.

The RBI has also received a communication from the Trai conveying that the pace of registration of DSAs/DMAs engaged by banks with the DoT is very slow. The RBI also asked banks to ensure that all DSAs/DMAs engaged by them to register with the DoT as telemarketers at the earliest.

Explaining the reason for delays in getting DSAs/DMAs registered, a senior IBA official said during discussions with the Trai it was felt that there was a mismatch between the online registration and the actual registration received.

When DSAs/DMAs register as telemarketers online, a temporary number is given to them. They then have to send Rs 1,000 draft to the nearest service provider (telecom company), which then forwards it to the DoT.

Up to the deadline of August 31, the number of forms received by the DoT was less than online applications. This could be because the applications were in transit after being submitted to service providers.