New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has taken various steps to block spam calls in the past few months. Authority has observed a significant rise in spam calls, with over 7.9 Lakh complaints reported against unregistered telemarketers (UTMs) in the first half of 2024 (January-June, 2024), officials said.
Taking this issue seriously, TRAI issued stringent directives to all access providers on August 13 this year. TRAI has also mandated that access providers immediately stop promotional voice calls from unregistered senders or telemarketers using SIP, PRI, or other telecom resources. With these directions, any unregistered telemarketer (UTM) found misusing these resources will face severe consequences, including the disconnection of all telecom resources for up to two years and blacklisting, they added.
As a result of these directives, access providers have implemented strict measures against the misuse of telecom resources for spamming, blacklisting over 300 individuals and entities, and disconnecting more than five lakh SIP, DID, mobile numbers, and other telecom resources, officials said.
According to TRAI, on August 20, 2024, directions were issued to enforce measures aimed at curbing the misuse of messaging services and protecting consumers from fraudulent practices. Through this directive, TRAI has mandated that all access service providers migrate telemarketing calls starting with the 140 series to an online DLT platform by September 30, 2024, for better monitoring and control.
Additionally, effective from October 1, 2024, all access service providers will be prohibited from transmitting messages containing URLs, APKs, or OTT links that are not whitelisted by the senders. To enhance message traceability, TRAI has mandated that the trail of all messages from senders to recipients must be traceable starting November 1, 2024. Any message with an undefined or mismatched telemarketer chain will be rejected.
On August 28, 2024, TRAI issued a consultation paper seeking public comments on the "Review of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR-2018)." TRAI is seeking input on areas to strengthen the regulations, including stricter provisions against unregistered telemarketers (UTMs) who harass the public with spam calls, improved complaint redressal mechanisms, more effective UCC detection systems, stronger financial disincentives for violations of regulatory provisions, and revised regulations for senders and telemarketers. The paper also explores the possibility of differential tariffs for voice calls and SMS to discourage UCC. The consultation paper is available on the TRAI website.
