IBA plans Do-Not-Call-Registry for banking sec

To protect consumers from tele-marketers, Indian Banks' Association has launched an initiative to set up a common Do-Not-Call-Registry for the entire banking sector.

Under the current Reserve Bank guidelines, individuals who do not want to receive tele-marketing calls from banks, have to register with the Do-Not-Call-Registry (DNCR) of each bank separately.

To provide a one-stop solution, IBA in association with Indian Cards Council and MasterCard Worldwide has launched the initiative to establish a national centralised DNCR, which would enable the banks to operate from a shared platform and ensure that customers only need to register once with the common DNCR to prevent tele-marketing calls from both banks and their direct selling agents.

Taking the proposal forward, IBA on Thursday issued a 'Request for Proposal' for the common DNCR plan.

"Once in place, the IBA initiative will bring Indian consumers' banking experiences at par with the global standards," IBA said in a statement.

The tele-marketers would need to access the DNCR at least on fortnightly basis in order to ensure that the numbers they wish to call are not on the national Do-Not-Call-Registry.