Anuj Mukherjee was selective in greeting people through SMS on Vijaya Dashami, thanks to the cap on the number of text messages one can send.

“Unlike previous years when I would send Subho Vijaya greetings to the 1,200-plus people whose numbers are stored in my cellphone, I zeroed in on some key contacts this time,” the 28-year-old said.

In an attempt to rein in aggressive telemarketing, the Telecom Regularity Authority of India (Trai) has ordered that a prepaid customer cannot send more than 100 messages a day. For post-paid customers, the cap is 3,000 a month.

Festive occasions are exempt from the order but subscribers were in the dark whether Dashami was one such in the absence of any information from the service providers.

The companies, however, did send messages saying discount packs would not be available for Vijaya Dashami.

Young software professional Dhritiman Banerjee said he did not take any chance and decided to be choosy in greeting friends and other acquaintances through SMS.

The number of messages reaching him, too, has come down drastically. “Last year I received close to 200 such messages, but this year not more than 50,” he added.

Banerjee used email and Facebook to make up for the SMS “handicap”.

Sources in the telecom industry admitted that there had been a “significant decline” in the number of text messages sent on Vijaya Dashami compared to previous years but none of the service providers agreed to be quoted.

Gartner, an information technology research and advisory firm, too, reported a substantial drop in the number of messages sent on Dusshera.

“The Trai regulation allowing only 100 messages a day is one of the main reasons for it. This rule has definitely made subscribers choosy in sending messages,” said Shaily Shah, a research analyst at Gartner.

Rajan Mathews, the director-general of the Cellular Operators Association of India, said the Trai directive had resulted in a 5-10 per cent decline in the SMS volume.