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Our Bureau

New Delhi , Sept 12

THE Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today directed Internet Service Providers (ISP) to seek explicit consent of their customers before offering chargeable value-added services. The telecom regulator had earlier issued a similar direction to the fixed telephone operators and mobile service providers.

TRAI said that it has come to know of an ISP, which was charging subscribers for value additions without obtaining their explicit consent. "A prominent ISP had recently provided value additions in the form of unlimited access at a monthly fee. The service was activated to all dial-up customers with the condition that unless the customer calls the customer care of the operator on a specific number and un-subscribes the service, the monthly charge gets automatically applicable," TRAI said.

In such cases, the onus of declining the chargeable service was put on the customer. There could be a possibility that in case the customer fails to un-subscribe for the service due to any reason, he starts getting charged without his concurrence.

This amounts to offering and charging for a service without the explicit consent of the customer. With this direction, the authority intends to put an end to such practices, TRAI said in a press release.

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