The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has further extended the deadline for ensuring traceability of commercial messages to December 10th 2024, granting additional time for compliance with its traceability regulations. This follows its earlier directives mandating the declaration of Principal Entity (PE) and Telemarketer (TM) chains by November 30th 2024.
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TRAI’s Traceability Mandate
Originally scheduled for November 1, the mandate was postponed to December 1 after telecom operators cautioned against potential widespread disruptions. They warned that blocking untraceable messages could cause issues, as many telemarketers and businesses, including banks, were not yet technically ready to comply with the new regulations.
TRAI initiated these measures to curb spam and ensure secure message transmission. In a statement late Saturday, the regulator, however, said 27,000 PEs have already registered their chains with the respective telcos and further registration is in progress at a rapid pace. However, TRAI acknowledged the need for additional time for registrations and technical upgrades.
To boost awareness, TRAI conducted webinars, sent advisories to government departments, and collaborated with Sector Regulators like RBI, SEBI, PFRDA, and IRDAI. Access Providers have also issued warnings to defaulting entities, TRAI said.
Deadline Extension
From December 11th 2024, messages lacking defined or matched PE-TM chains will be automatically rejected. TRAI has urged all stakeholders to expedite compliance to avoid disruptions.
Ensuring traceability has been a key focus of TRAI's efforts to combat spam. The regulator has been taking several initiatives to prevent the misuse of headers and content templates, fostering a more secure and efficient telecom ecosystem.
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Non-Compliant Messages to be Rejected
"With effect from December 11, 2024, any traffic (messages) where the chain of telemarketers is not defined or does not match with the pre-defined chain shall be rejected. PES and TMs are again advised to expedite the declaration of chains on priority as any message that fails to adhere to the traceability regulation will be rejected with effect from 11th of December 2024," TRAI said.
