After shopping hard, when you go to the billing counter for billing, the shopkeepers ask you for your mobile number to generate something. Due to this, there is a lot of anger and there is fear in telling the mobile number in front of everyone.
The government has now spoken against it, and shopkeepers will no longer pester you to give your mobile number. Many scams were happening due to this. Disclosing your mobile number can expose it to scammers, who often run scams through mobile numbers and WhatsApp messages.
No need to mention mobile number
According to Consumer Affairs Secretary Rohit Kumar Singh, the Consumer Affairs Ministry has issued an advisory asking retailers not to force customers to give their personal contact details for certain services.
This advisory was issued because many customers have complained that retailers refuse to provide services unless they share their contact number.
The secretary explained that vendors often say they cannot bill customers unless they provide their personal contact details. However, this is considered unfair and goes against the Consumer Protection Act. There’s no good reason for retailers to collect this information, and it unfairly restricts customers.
It is not mandatory for customers to provide their mobile number to retailers for receiving bills in India. However, customers often feel pressured by retailers who insist on having their contact number to complete the transaction. They do not have the option of saying no in many situations. The advice of the ministry is an important step to address these grievances of the customers.
When shopkeepers have access to your phone number, they can use it to send you unsolicited marketing messages or make unsolicited sales calls.
This can be annoying and intrusive, consuming your time and resources. They will also ignore customer security and privacy and may expose your data to online scammers.