New Delhi
The Consumer Affairs Ministry has asked industry associations to advise retailers not to collect mobile numbers of customers without their “express consent” at the time of sale of any goods or services. It has said that insisting on the contact number of customers is not only an unfair practice but also a “punishable offence”. IT Act,
in a letter addressed to Retailers Association of India and five other leading industry bodies – CII, FICCI, CAITASSOCHAM and PHD Chamber of Commerce – Union consumer affairs secretary Rohit Kumar Singh has said that insisting on mobile number as a mandatory mandatory condition during the sale of a product, even when a consumer chooses not to provide it, is violative of his rights and amounts to unfair trade practice under the Act. constitutes behavior.
“By imposing a mandatory requirement to provide a mobile number, consumers are often forced to share their personal information against their will, with consumers often being inundated with marketing and promotional messages from retailers Which they didn’t even choose at that time to buy the product,” the secretary wrote.
Citing Section 72-A of the Information Technology Act, the letter states that disclosing personal information of a person, including mobile number received at the time of sale, without his consent or to any other person in breach of a legal contract, is punishable is a crime.