The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India may look at excluding SMSs while formulating a policy on unsolicited commercial calls.

This would enable telemarketers to send SMSs for canvasing or selling products.

SMSs are not a problem to the extent telemarketing is, as subscribers have an option to check such messages as per their convenience.

They do not disturb a subscriber and has the convenience of being delivered as and when the user treads back to an area with connectivity, industry sources told Business Standard.

Telemarketing, as an industry, provides jobs to many and helps companies reach out to consumers. A suggestion to exclude SMSs has been made to the regulator and a favourable decision is expected in the policy, the sources said.

Trai sources said the regulator had received suggestions to this effect. However, a decision in this regard has not been taken, the sources said.

When contacted, Trai chairman Nripendra Misra declined to comment.

The size of the domestic telemarketing industry is pegged at around Rs 500 crore (excluding sales of the consumer and related segment). Around 60-80 billion SMSs are being sent in the country per year. This is expected to increase to 180 billion by 2010.

According to an independent survey, an average user sends 30-35 SMSs per month in India. The present subscriber base stands at 136 million. However, data on marketing-related SMSs are not available.

Trai was looking at curbing the menace of unsolicited telemarketing calls and had floated a consultancy paper on it.