The COVID-19 awareness pre-call audio alerts established by telecom providers at the onset of the pandemic may soon be forgotten.
After nearly two years of raising awareness about the condition, the government is now actively contemplating removing the COVID-19 pre-call warnings, based on reports that the audio snippets have fulfilled their intended purpose and are delaying essential calls during crises.
According to official sources, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has written to the Union Health Ministry demanding that these pre-call statements and caller melodies be removed.
It highlighted comments from the Cellular Operators Association of India (COA) and mobile subscribers.
Following orders from the Union Health Ministry, the DoT provided instructions to Telecom Service Providers for the implementation of COVID-19 pre-call announcements and caller tunes.
Telecom service providers (TSPs) have begun playing coronavirus-related pre-call messages and caller melodies to raise awareness among residents and inform them about the measures and vaccinations to be taken during the pandemic.
It also has an impact on customer experience, and many have approached TSPs to deactivate these as they are a hindrance when customers need to make urgent calls, according to the letter, adding that many complaints through RTI have requested that the RBTs (ring back tone) be deactivated as citizens are unable to connect to people in case of emergencies.