SMS spamming by Tata Motors to renew Nexon iRA subscription

While the convenience and security features of iRA are good, it doesn't aid anything for the most used feature of navigation.

BHPian TurboOnTarmac recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

SMS spamming by Tata Motors for iRA renewal:

I own a Tata Nexon XZA(O), which came with the iRA subscription. Initially at that time of buying, no one was clear on how long this subscription is valid and what would be the recurring cost for continuing the same. Whatever the answers I got from the Tata dealership pointed to low estimates (<100 rupees per month) after may be 3 years of free service. Nothing is documented so I cant really prove these words. Note that I had paid 30k rupees more for this feature.

But after an year, I got the message that my free subscription expired and IRA facility is discontinued. Renewal options are expensive, as shown below:

While the convenience and security features of iRA are good, it doesn't aid anything for the most used feature of navigation. For that, I need to connect my phone or use phone separately. On one of my trips early in Jan 2021, my phone got damaged and the dealer said sometimes the constant charging even after full is not good. So after purchasing a new phone, I ended up having a separate phone stuck on the windshield to act as a navigation and music streaming device. Also converted the cigarette lighter to dual usb charger, so now I have the option to disconnect charging when phone is fully charged. Another thing about using primary phone is calls gets displayed on the  info screen in the car and gets connected to the car mic, which is a good feature. But sometimes we may not want this when people are around, but want to have navigation and music. Unfortunately, iRA doesn't come to help here.

Coming to the point. With the navigation gone, the only notable feature in iRA that I felt relevant is car location tracking and remote engine disabling in theft. I know its important, but considering the amount of the travel I am doing, the fact of spending 300 rupees per month for this feature, didn't really appeal to me. So I have not renewed it so far.

But Tata Motors persisted with sending SMS regularly, which I have ignored so far. But a couple of weeks ago they went on overdrive and bombarded me with over 100 messages in 24 hours. I thought it must be a mistake on their IT system and assumed they will correct it. As expected, the messages reduced to 2 to 4 a day from next day, which is bit tolerable. Again, since yesterday after 4:30 pm, they again went into overdrive and bombarded me with more than 120 messages in the last 20 hours and are still continuing to do so. I had put the notification sound to mute to avoid disturbance.

The messages come from 3 numbers/channels - VK-TACONN, VM-TACONN, QP-TACONN.

Does any one else also facing this issue?

Whom should I complain to?

Here's what BHPian binand had to say on the matter:

As per regulations, these messages are about a "specific contract" between you and the service provider and therefore not spam. You can report them via the 1909 NDNC violation reporting framework but I suspect such reports will be ignored. Your best bet is to install SMS Organiser as your default SMS app and set it up to block TACONN sender ID.

Here's what BHPian abhishek46 had to say on the matter:

If you are not interested in receiving these messages any longer, why don't you simply 'block' the sender in the SMS/Messages App?

Of course, you can unblock them later too, if you suddenly feel the need for iRA again.

Here's what BHPian Tgo had to say on the matter:

SMS spamming is really pathetic which wouldn’t be required if they priced it right.

But if you think of it, at least iRA has a useful geofencing feature. Most of the older navigation systems had outdated maps that needed to be downloaded every time there was an update which was only once or twice in the initial year or two that you got the service for free.

The packs are based on GB and duration, but I doubt they ever push large OTA updates that would consume so much data.

The other way to think of this INR 300 per month is:

INR 100 is the minimum recharge required to keep a SIM active. This car has 2. So INR 200 there, and then INR 100 for all the functionality this tech offers.

That being said, Tata should allow some flexible pay packages like:

• Geofencing pack.
• Remote vehicle function operation pack.
• Trip logger pack.
• Navigation pack.

and price them differently so that the customer has the choice of paying for what he likes rather than ending up generating no revenue by pricing them so steeply.

Here's what BHPian AirbusCapt had to say on the matter:

I had been spammed by Tata Motors until about a year back. After I sold my Hexa (about 3 years back), the local dealer from whom I bought the vehicle kept calling me for its service/service camps/updates and what not inspite of me telling them /writing to them on multiple occasions that the car is sold. Not only that, my phone number was illegally shared with multiple online aggregators who wanted to sell insurance renewals and other such things. I got this to stop only after I wrote to Tata Motors senior management that I would complain to the relevant authorities and publish on social media regarding their unethical tactics.

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