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87% drop in complaints against VAS after regulations: TRAI
NEW DELHI: There has been a decline of around 87 per cent in the number of complaints made against wrong activation of value added services (VAS) like mobile internet and caller tunes since July.
The drop has been witnessed after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued directives to operators for putting an end to such practices.
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On 10 July, TRAI issued directives to telecom operators to take double confirmation from consumers before activating VAS and refund money of subscriber if the complaint is made within 24 hours for services that are valid for more than a day and six hours if a service is valid for a day.
Under the rules, consumers can register complaints about wrongful activation of VAS on a toll-free common number, 155223, irrespective of the network they use.
The regulator observed that total number of complaints received for VAS almost halved from 1,85,468 in July to 95,510 in August.
The VAS activation on mobile network also came down by about 57 per cent from about 70 million in June – when rules were not in place – to 30 million in July.
The data did not incorporate details of state-run BSNL, Sistema Shyam, Videocon and Punjab based Quadrant.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
