A phone is a personal device and your number is your identity. When some unknown individual disturbs you with a call or SMS you feel like somebody has barged in on your privacy.
As phone usage has increased in the country, so has the volume of spam messages and unneeded calls as well. Marketers send bulk SMS messages to forward advertisements and promotions. People who make prank calls or tease people over the phone have also increased with time.
The best way to deal with this is to block these callers and spammers. Thankfully all operators offer SMS and call blocking services.
We have listed them all below for your convenience.
Note: ‘0333xxxxxxx’ at the below packages refers to any mobile phone number you need to block/unblock.
Jazz has a pretty simple SMS & Call blocking service and you only need to dial a USSD code to block or whitelist a number. Using the code, you can either block blacklisted numbers or only receive call and SMS from contacts in your whitelist.
You also get the option to change the caller tunes for the blocked numbers.
The Menu gives you the following options:
Subscription: Dial *420# or send SMS “Help” to 420
Unsubscribe: Dial *420#
Subscription Charges: Rs. 0.99/Day (Prepaid), Rs. 20+Tax.Month (Postpaid)
Limit: 50 numbers per list
Help Command: Send “Help” to 420
You can also block Jazz’s promotional messages for free by sending “BLOCK” to 3627.
Telenor’s unwanted call blocker service works in pretty much the same way. You can get rid of unwanted SMS and callers by simply dialing the USSD code or sending an SMS.
Similar to Jazz you get both blacklist and a whitelist. Enabling each works the same way too.
Subscription: Dial *420# or send “sub” to 420
Unsubscribe: Dial *420# or send “unsub” to 420
Subscription Charges: Rs. 20+Tax/Month (Postpaid & Prepaid)
Editing Blacklist Charges: Rs. 2/SMS to 420
Example:
To view more SMS commands, click here.
Ufone’s SMS and call blocking service works in pretty much the same way though the service needs an update to make it work as seamlessly as the others. There is no whitelist option with Ufone as well.
Subscription: Send “sub” to 420
Unsubscribe: Send “unsub” to 420
Subscription Charges: Rs. 3.75+Tax/Week (Prepaid), Rs. 15+Tax/Month (Postpaid)
Editing Blacklist Charges: Rs. 1+Tax/SMS to 420, 0.10/min on 420 IVR
Help Command: Send “H” to 420
Limit: 20 On-net, 20 Off-net
Example:
To view SMS commands, click here.
Note: The service doesn’t work during busy days like Eid, Independence Day. etc.
With Warid’s SMS and call blocking service, you can block all local and international phone numbers. There aren’t any restrictions though you cannot use the Whitelist feature with Warid.
You can also choose your own call blocking ring-back tone. Warid even lets users record their own messages for those lousy callers who just done give up.
Warid also provides an option to be alerted whenever you an obnoxious caller attempts to call or SMS you.
Subscription: Send “Sub” to 420 or call 420
Unsubscribe: Send “Stop” to 420 or call 420
Subscription Charges: Rs. 19+Tax/Month (Prepaid and Postpaid)
Editing Blacklist Charges: Rs. 2+Tax/SMS to 420, 2+Tax/min on 420 IVR
Limit: Unlimited
Example:
To view SMS commands and hear some funny yet obnoxious caller announcements, click here.
Zong’s call and SMS blocking service also allows to block local numbers as well as international numbers without any extra charges. The IVR service is available in multiple languages.
The service does not offer the whitelist feature which lets you block all calls except certain numbers.
Subscription: Send “sub” to 420 or Call 420
Unsubscribe: Send “unsub” to 420 or Call 420
Subscription Charges: Rs. 15+Tax/Month (Postpaid)
Editing Blacklist Charges: 1+Tax/call on 420 IVR, SMS are charged at normal package rate
Limit: Unlimited
Example: