Hyderabad: Call someone and you will get a public service announcement giving various bits of information about the latest health scare, the novel coronavirus, before the connection goes through.
The new caller ‘tune’ forced upon people has replaced the anti-tobacco ads played in cinema halls as the latest butt of jokes and angry raves on social media.
Though the message gives information, it is an irksome intrusion. Cellphone operators say it is a Central government mandate and they can do nothing about it.
“I have senior citizens at home, one of whom is recovering from surgery. The first time I heard the message, I thought one of them had fallen ill!” said Beyniaz Edulji, a resident of Sainikpuri.
The message has triggered a number of responses on social media, some of which claim to show how to remove the caller tune or message.
One said ‘Press one when the tune is playing you will not receive the message any further.’ Another said you need to dial a particular number to disable the caller tune.
“Even if you try pressing some key, and successfully manage to get rid of the caller tune, it will play again as the telecom service provider will refresh his servers at midnight. This is something that people will have to listen to for the next four days at least,” said Vik K. Kalianpur, another irked resident of the city.
Rajan S. Matthews, DG, Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), told Deccan Chronicle: “This is not something that will go away very soon since it is a public health issue. We will have to wait for the government to ask the service providers to stop playing the announcement.”
