TRAI invites comments on regulations against spam calls and texts, telecom fraud

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued a consultation paper seeking public comments regarding a regulation (Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018) that was implemented in February 2019 to address issues of Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC).
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Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC) refer to all kinds of calls, messages, or emails that are used to promote businesses or products and are sent to people without their consent.
The regulation was brought in to protect the public from unwanted promotional calls and messages, while also at the same time, allowing businesses to send targeted communications to customers who have consented for or set preferences to receive them.
The TRAI is seeking inputs from the public to strengthen the regulations, especially by issuing stricter provisions against Unregistered Telemarketers (UTMs) who harass the public through spam calls, improved complaint redressal mechanisms, more effective UCC detection systems, stronger financial disincentives for violation of regulatory provisions, and revised regulations for senders and telemarketers.
The consultation paper also explores the possibility of differential tariffs for voice calls and SMS to discourage UCC.
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The consultation paper titled “Review of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR-2018)” can be accessed on the TRAI website.
The TRAI asks for written comments from the stakeholders through email by September 25, 2024, with counter comments taken till October 9, 2024.
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