LocalCircles survey shows that 76% of citizens receive 3 or more spam or promotional text messages per day

A survey by LocalCircles found that at least 76% of citizens receive three or more promotional or spam text messages on their mobile phones every day.

As TRAI prepares to introduce new norms to tackle threats such as annoying text messages, LocalCircles conducted a baseline survey to understand the extent of the spam problem and the types of unwanted messages they receive.

The survey received more than 41,000 responses from citizens across India's 357 districts. 67% of the respondents were male and 33% were female. A total of 41% of the respondents were from Tier I areas, 35% from Tier II areas and 24% from Tier III, Tier IV and rural areas.

33% of people receive 3-5 unwanted text messages per day

The survey asked: “On average, how many unwanted, annoying sales/promotional texts/texts do you receive on your mobile phone number per day?”

The query received 10,834 responses, of which 15% said they received at least 1-2 unwanted text messages per day; 33% said they received 3-5 unwanted text messages; 18% of respondents said they send 6-10 text messages; 25% said they send more than 10 text messages every day. In addition, 7% of the respondents did not give a clear answer and chose “can't say”, and only 2% of the respondents said “they have not received any such text messages/SMS”. Data shows that 76% of citizens surveyed claim that they receive three or more promotional or spam text messages on their mobile phones every day.

Eight out of 10 citizens surveyed who were registered on the DND list said they still receive unwanted messages (SMS)

The survey next asked citizens “Do you receive unwanted, annoying sales/promotional texts/texts on your phone despite being registered on the Do Not Disturb (DND) list?” Out of 10,640 people who responded to this question Among them, 83% said “Yes, still get them”; only 10% said “No, don't understand”, and 7% of the respondents did not clearly answer “can't say”. Apparently, more than eight out of 10 surveyed citizens registered on the DND list said they still receive unwanted text messages.

Financial services and real estate services are the top senders of spam or promotional messages

The survey next asked respondents: “In what category do you receive the highest number of unwanted, annoying sales/promotional texts/texts on your mobile number?” Of the 10,654 responses received to the query , 50% said “selling financial services”; 32% said “selling real estate”; 6% said “providing job/income opportunities”; 2% said “providing medical care/pathological services”; 2% said “providing mobile phone numbers, better “Mobile phone calls/data packages, etc.”; 2% of the respondents said “other categories” not listed above, and 6% of the respondents said “can't say”. Data shows that financial services and real estate services are the largest senders of spam or promotional text messages.

87% of citizens surveyed said they received unwanted text messages (SMS) from mobile phone numbers and coded senders that were difficult to associate with a company/brand

The survey next asked “How do you receive most of the unwanted and annoying sales/promotional texts/texts on your mobile phone?” The query received 9,888 responses, 56% of which said “from different mobile phone numbers”; 31% Respondents said that “senders from different codes make it difficult to associate them with the company/brand”; 13% said “senders from different company/brand codes”. Data shows that 87% of citizens surveyed said they have received spam text messages from mobile phone numbers and coded senders that are difficult to associate with a company/brand.

LocalCircles is a community social media platform that empowers citizens and small businesses to escalate policy and law enforcement intervention issues, and enables governments to create citizen- and small business-focused policy.