TRAI Tightens Rules to Fight Unsolicited Industrial Communication

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has amended the Telecom Industrial Communications Buyer Desire Rules (TCCCPR), 2018, introducing stricter measures to curb Unsolicited Industrial Communication (UCC) and strengthen shopper safety. “The revised laws intention to cope with evolving strategies of misuse of telecom assets and promote a extra clear business communication ecosystem for shoppers,” the Ministry of Communications mentioned on Wednesday.

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Simplified Spam Reporting and Quicker Motion

Shoppers can now report spam calls and messages from unregistered senders with out pre-registering their preferences. The grievance course of has been streamlined, requiring solely primary particulars just like the sender’s quantity, date, and temporary content material of the spam communication. The grievance window has been prolonged from three to seven days, and telecom operators should take motion inside 5 days, considerably lowering the earlier 30-day timeline.

To allow swift regulatory motion, TRAI has revised the brink for motion towards spammers. As an alternative of requiring 10 complaints in seven days, motion will now be triggered if a sender receives 5 complaints in ten days. Telecom suppliers should additionally combine straightforward spam reporting options inside their cellular apps, permitting customers to auto-log spam particulars or file complaints utilizing screenshots.

Empowering Shoppers with Higher Management

To boost consumer management over promotional messages, TRAI has mandated that every one promotional messages should carry an opt-out possibility, making choice modification simpler. Messages will now have standardized headers for fast identification: “-P” for Promotional messages, “-S” for Service-related messages, “-T” for Transactional messages and “-G” for Authorities communications.

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A brand new 90-day cooling interval has been launched, stopping companies from in search of consent from customers who’ve opted out. Moreover, consent for ongoing transactions will now be legitimate for under seven days, guaranteeing companies don’t misuse prior approvals to ship indefinite messages or calls. Service-related calls post-contract expiry can even require express shopper consent.

TRAI has additionally launched laws for auto-dialers and robocalls, requiring clear disclosure and strict management to forestall shopper disturbance.

Stronger Penalties for Spammers

TRAI has launched harsher penalties for repeated violators. Upon the first violation, all outgoing companies of the spammer can be suspended for 15 days. For subsequent violations, all telecom assets—together with PRI and SIP trunks—can be disconnected for one yr, and the sender can be blacklisted throughout all operators.

To curb fraud, any misleading calls or messages geared toward deceptive shoppers will now be categorised as UCC, permitting swift regulatory motion. TRAI has additionally banned the usage of 10-digit numbers for telemarketing, guaranteeing business communications originate solely from designated quantity sequence: 140 for Promotional calls and 1600 for Transactional and Service calls

Guaranteeing Compliance and Business Accountability

To implement compliance, TRAI has launched graded monetary penalties for telecom operators failing to implement these laws. Fines will vary from Rs 2 lakh for the primary violation to Rs 10 lakh per subsequent violation. Moreover, entry suppliers can now demand safety deposits from telemarketers, which can be forfeited upon regulatory violations.

All registered senders and telemarketers should enter into legally binding agreements with entry suppliers, clearly outlining compliance obligations.

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Superior Anti-Spam Measures and Ecosystem Strengthening

To establish spammers proactively, telecom operators should analyze name and SMS patterns, flagging accounts with unusually excessive name volumes, quick durations, or skewed name ratios. TRAI has additionally mandated the deployment of honeypots—devoted lure numbers to trace spam developments and take pre-emptive motion.

For higher traceability, the variety of intermediaries between Principal Entities (PE) and Telemarketers (TM) can be restricted. Senders and telemarketers should additionally bear bodily verification, biometric authentication, and cellular quantity linking earlier than registration.

Entry suppliers have been directed to make sure strict compliance and take proactive measures to dam violators.