Nearly every one of us has been subjected to those annoyingly familiar, intrusive, unwarranted calls that invade our privacy, and threaten to disrupt our peace of mind with their persistent sales pitches.

Telemarketing as a tool to generate ‘low-quality’ leads in bulk has been around for over 30 years, however, India’s pesky calls situation only seems to be growing.

India is among the top five countries affected by such calls, with 93.5% of them being sales or telemarketing calls, according to a 2021 Truecaller report on global spam,

95% of Indians face daily spam calls, with 60% receiving three or more, mainly from real estate and BFSI players, a 2024 LocalCircles survey reveals. Despite the 'Do Not Disturb' registry, 96% still report unsolicited calls.

Telemarketing has also become a hub for scams, raising concerns over financial fraud and eroded consumer trust.

As the Data Protection (DPDP) Act mandating explicit consent for promotional calls is set to take effect this year, we debate on the relevance of this age-old marketing tool in today's digital era.

Can telemarketing adapt to a consent-driven age, or will it be replaced by Al-powered, hyper-personalised marketing? We ask industry experts and stakeholders, including Niva Bupa Health Insurance's Nimish Agarwal; Cheil X's Khyati Sarang; brand strategist Harish Bijoor; Fynocrat Technologies' Gaurav Goel; TRA Research's N Chandramouli; Ipsos India's Vivek Gupta; Buzzlab's Sindhu Biswal, and Grapes Digital's Shradha Agarwal. 

At the same time, experts noted, how brands like Bajaj Finance have turned this 'nuisance' into a 'strategic triumph'.

In the February issue of Manifest, we also debate the added risk of antagonising a customer towards the brand if the mass marketing tool is blatantly abused, and how it can even backfire on the brand's reputation.

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