Survey: 6 in 10 Indians Receive 3 or More Pesky Calls Daily Offering Loans

60% of Indians receive 3 or more unsolicited calls daily, with the majority being from sellers of financial services and real estate.

These calls are prevalent, with around 60% of Indians experiencing them regularly. Notably, the survey identifies individuals selling financial services and real estate as the primary perpetrators of these unwanted calls.

Interestingly, despite the nuisance of these calls, there has been a slight improvement in the frequency of such calls compared to the previous 12 months, indicating a potential shift or mitigation in the prevalence of unsolicited marketing calls.

The recent LocalCircles survey revealed that approximately 66% of mobile subscribers reported receiving three or more spam calls on average every day in February of the previous year. However, the survey noted a comparative decline in this trend over the past 12 months, with the percentage decreasing to 60%. This suggests a slight improvement in the frequency of spam calls experienced by mobile subscribers, indicating potential efforts to address the issue of unsolicited calls.

Among the top offenders identified in the survey, financial services accounted for 54% of unsolicited calls, followed by real estate companies at 22%. Other notable categories included companies providing healthcare/pathological services (7%), offering job/earnings opportunities (4%), and providing various services like RO repair, spa, beauty, etc. (2%). Additionally, there were companies offering better mobile talk/data plans and mobile numbers, accounting for 2% of unsolicited calls. The remaining 7% indicated other categories.

In the financial services sector, 40% of respondents identified Bajaj Finance as the top offender for unsolicited calls, followed by the HDFC Group at 27%. Within the HDFC Group, 12% of those surveyed singled out HDFC Bank as a major source of pesky calls, while 15% attributed the unwanted calls to HDFC Life Insurance.

Other notable financial entities flagged for pesky calls included Kotak Mahindra Bank (4%), ICICI Bank (2%), IDFC First Bank (2%), and IndusInd Bank (2%). Additionally, approximately 23% of respondents identified other financial institutions as sources of unwanted calls.

Furthermore, approximately 30% of respondents indicated receiving 1-2 spam calls on average every day, while 36% reported receiving a minimum of 3-5 spam calls almost daily.

Additionally, the survey revealed that 21% of respondents received 6-10 spam calls, while 3% received more than 10 unwanted calls daily. However, 6% of those surveyed were fortunate enough not to receive any such calls. Interestingly, no respondents reported receiving zero pesky calls.

The survey found that despite being registered on the Do Not Disturb (DND) list, around 90% of respondents still receive unsolicited calls. Conversely, 5% of respondents stated that being registered on the DND list is beneficial and helps prevent unwanted calls. However, another 5% of respondents did not provide a clear response regarding the effectiveness of the DND list in curbing pesky calls.

To address the problem of unwanted spam calls and messages, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) established the National Do Not Call (NDNC) registry in 2011. This registry allows users to voluntarily register for the service, enabling them to opt out of receiving unwanted marketing calls and messages at their discretion.

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