Finally, waking up to the menace created by unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) or spam calls and messages, the telecom regulatory authority of India (TRAI) has directed all telecom service providers (TSPs) to disconnect and blacklist the entity or person that is generating the spam communication. TRAI also asked the telco to share the information with other telcos so that the spammer would be disconnected from telecom resources.
TRAI had called a meeting with telcos to discuss issues like spam calls by entities sending bulk commercial communications through PRI, SIP or bulk connections.
In a release issued after the meeting, the telecom regulator says, "If any entity misuses its session initiating protocol (SIP) or primary rate interface (PRI) lines for making spam calls, all the telecom resources of the entity shall be disconnected by its TSP and the entity shall be blacklisted by it. This information shall be shared by the TSP with all other TSPs, who will, in turn, disconnect all the telecom resources given by them to that entity and blacklist it for a period of up to two years. No new telecom resources shall be allocated to it by any TSP during the period of blacklisting."
"With effect from 1 September 2024, no message containing URLs or Android package kits (APKs) that are not whitelisted, shall be allowed to be delivered. The technical implementation of entity and telemarketer chain binding for ensuring traceability of the message flow shall be completed by the TSPs latest by 31 October 2024," TRAI says.
The meeting was attended by chief regulatory officers (CRO) of Airtel, BSNL, Quadrant Televentures Ltd (QTL), Reliance Jio, Tata Teleservices Ltd, Vodafone Idea Ltd and V-CON Mobile & Infra Pvt Ltd. Representatives of MTNL and Reliance Communications Ltd did not attend the meeting.
During the meeting, TRAI emphasised that there is an urgent need to take firm action against spammers using PRI or SIP connections for voice calls, robocalls, and pre-recorded calls without further delay. "All the TSPs promised to extend full support to TRAI in curbing the menace of spam calls and implement all the directions of TRAI within the timeframe," the regulator says.
Telcos have also urged the Union government to ensure a level playing field in regulatory compliance requirements between TSPs and other messaging platforms providing similar communication services. According to the Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), the issue involves multiple stakeholders -- TSPs, telemarketers, aggregators, and principal entities (PEs) like banks, financial institutions and real estate agencies.
Meanwhile, nearly 7.3mn (million) or 73 lakh mobile connections have been disconnected by telcos so far for failing re-verification, after the telecom department flagged such mobile connections, Parliament was informed.
In a written reply, minister of state for communications Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar told Lok Sabha that "Till date, the department of telecommunications (DoT) has identified about 8.1mn (81 lakh) suspected mobile connections and out of which about 7.3mn have been disconnected by the TSPs failing re-verification."
DoT has developed a system to detect fraudulent mobile connections taken on fake proof of identity or proof of address documents, and such connections are flagged to TSPs for re-verification, the minister says.
Separately, the government has taken the necessary steps to start the trial and assessment of the implementation of the calling name presentation (CNAP) service by telcos.
Responding to a question in the Rajya Sabha, Mr Chandra Sekhar says the government received recommendations in February 2024 on the introduction of CNAP in telecommunication networks from TRAI.
"The necessary steps have been taken by the government to start the trial and assessment of the implementation of CNAP service by telecom service providers," the minister added.
