Subscribers involved in unsolicited communication will now face the risk of being blacklisted for a period of two years, thanks to new directives issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The telecom regulator on Friday asked phone operators to disconnect all telecom resources, including phone and internet connections, to those who send pesky calls and SMSes. To curb the menace of pesky calls and SMSes, the government has amended the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations 2013.

TRAI member RK Arnold said that a service provider would be able to launch a probe the very moment a customer complains about pesky calls or SMSes. Mr. Arnold added that the measures had been introduced to further reinforce the framework to control unregistered telemarketers.

Speaking on the topic, "Names and addresses of such subscribers shall be entered into a blacklist and no resources would be allotted to these subscribers for a period of two years in such cases."

The new changes in the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations will impact unregistered and unregulated telemarketers, who had previously been using loopholes in the existing regulations to pesky calls and SMSes.

The telecom regulator also prescribed changes for transactional SMSes to 5 paise. The change will take effect from June this year. Currently, just promotional messages are charged.