TRAI Issues Directions to Telcos to Curb Unauthorized Promotions Using Telecom Resources

Under the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) DND service, mobile subscribers can register their phone numbers on a National Do Not Call (NDNC) registry. Once a phone number is registered, telemarketers are prohibited from sending promotional messages or making unsolicited calls to that number. The NDNC registry is regularly updated, and telemarketers are required to comply with the regulations or face penalties. The TRAI DND ( Do Not Disturb) service is available to all Indian mobile subscribers, regardless of their mobile network operator.

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To further strengthen the DND service and curb messages from unauthorised or unregistered telemarketers, including telemarketers using telephone numbers, TRAI has directed Access providers to ensure that all promotional messages are sent through Registered Telemarketers (RTMs) using approved Headers and Message Templates on Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) platform.

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Also, to stop the misuse of Headers and Message Templates, TRAI has issued two separate Directions to Access Service Providers under the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR-2018) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act 1997 (24 of 1997).

Usage of Headers and Message Templates of Principal Entities (PEs):

Access Providers have been directed to:

1. Reverify all registered Headers and Message Templates on the DLT platform and block all unverified Headers and Message Templates within 30 and 60 days, respectively.
2. Ensure that temporary Headers are deactivated immediately after the time duration for which such headers were created.
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Ensure that content variables in Message Template do not have the flexibility to insert undesired content. Entities involved in message transmission should be identifiable and tracked if required.
Remove confusion among recipients of the message and prevent their misuse. No Look-alike headers (Similar headers under the combination of a small case or large case letters) are to be registered by Access Providers in the names of different Principal Entities.

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Measures Aimed At Curbing promotional Messages

Access providers have been directed to take measures aimed at curbing messages sent by unauthorised or unregistered telemarketers, including those using telephone numbers. The objective is to reduce the number of unwanted promotional messages sent to mobile subscribers. These measures include:

1. Bar all Telemarketers who are not registered on Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) platform from handling the message template scrubbing and delivery of messages to recipients through the Access Providers’ network.
2. Ensure that promotional messages are not transmitted by Unregistered Telemarketers or Telemarketers using telephone numbers (10 digits numbers).
3. The Access Service Provider must take action against all telemarketers who violate the regulations and initiate legal proceedings in accordance with relevant laws. Additionally, the Access Service Provider must share information about these telemarketers with other Access Providers, who will then be responsible for preventing these entities from sending any form of commercial communication through their networks.

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All Telecom Service Providers have been instructed to adhere to the abovementioned directives within thirty days.