Consumer friendly ‘Sanchar Saathi’ and ‘Tarang Sanchar’ portals are initiated to comfort people: DoT officials
Mobile radiation is not harmful, a heavy fine is imposed on mobile companies if irregularities are found in the tower.
Chandigarh, In view to making mobile users aware of their rights and related frauds, a special session was organized on Tuesday at the Community Center, Sector 37. This session was organized by Citizens Awareness Group (CAG) in association with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Department of Telecommunications (DoT). CAG Chairman Surendra Verma while welcoming participants said that the objective of the session was to provide a platform to representatives of telecom departments and companies facing consumers where they could be made aware of the challenges in the mobile sector and the other initiatives started by the Govt.
Mohali-based DoT Director – Security and DI, CB Singh in his address, while highlighting the consumer friendly portal ‘Sanchar Sathi’ launched by the Department of Telecommunications in May this year, said that this initiative of the government will help the consumers to be more careful about their mobile devices. The vision has been to empower consumers so that they do not feel cheated at any point. He said that three types of services – CEIR, TEFCOP and KYM – are being provided under the portal. Through CEIR, a lost mobile can be traced and even the consumer can block his/her mobile at home to avoid misuse, while through TEFCOP, information can be obtained as to how many mobile connections are there in the consumer’s name, so that getting involved in any major potential crime can be avoided. Through the third service KYM i.e. Know Your Mobile, before purchasing a mobile device, one can track whether the device is earlier used, duplicate or blacklisted. The portal advises never to buy such devices.
The world of the internet is developing very fast which widens the scope of scams. To avoid such scams, DoT’s Assistant Director – Security and DI, Vaibhav Jain suggested important tips to the consumers in his address. According to him, scams are now being done through SMS, Whatsapp and voice calls. He warned that sharp minds involved in fraud are now luring people into their clutches by luring them with money just for giving one ‘like’ on social media and as a result consumers not only share their personal information but also face financial loss. He said that these frauds are not limited to the rural level but even the literate people of the cities also fall prey to such scams. He strongly stressed that one should stay away from such links and phone calls on mobile SMS, email and social media and report cyber crimes immediately.
During the program, the DoT’s Director Compliance Amandeep Singla and Assistant Director Nikita expressed their views on the topic of mobile radiation. Throwing light on the misconceptions related to radiation, they emphasized that now it has been scientifically proven that mobile towers do not harm any human being or other creatures. Through intensive R&D of science, mobile towers have been installed as per the people-friendly parameters. Despite this, if anyone is dissatisfied with the mobile towers on their radiations, one can register his complaint on ‘Tarang Sanchar’. Acting on this, the department inspects the tower and if any irregularity is found in the radiation limits, a heavy fine is imposed on the concerned telecom company. They informed that to avoid such situations, towers are audited every year.
During the program, representatives of various telecom companies in their presentation also suggested tips to the consumers to deal with cyber crime. At the end of the program, consumers also got their solutions on facing problems from representatives of the department and companies.
