Iran's Communication Regulatory Authority (CRA) is aiming to regulate Value Added Services (VAS) delivered via text messages and has issued a mandate requiring mobile phone operators to set up a website through which subscribers can view, change or block such services that they have subscribed to, reports Financial Tribune. CRA chief Hossein Fallah said its illegal for telemarketers and mobile operators to send automated texts without express consent from the consumer. Moreover, he says, personal numbers are not allowed to be used for offering VAS.
Mobile phone users, he said, must always be abler to opt out, even after they have subscribed to a VAS. The operators' websites must inform customers of costs of each service and they must secure users' stated consent before starting to send the text messages. Fallah said that companies offering content delivery services through text messages must acquire permits from the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
The new mandate is part of a push by the CRA to regulate text message advertising. It launched an automated system in November 2017 through which subscribers can register complaints against irritating ads that many consider as spam. Users can complain to the CRA against a phone number by sending the number to 195 via a text message.
According to Fallah, 3,000 advertising phone numbers were blocked during the first week after the introduction of the automated system.
Source: https://www.telecompaper.com/news/iranian-cra-regulates-vas-texts--1231868