TRAI proposes tighter rules for spam calls, messages

TRAI proposes amendments to anti-spam regulations in India amid rising fraudulent calls and SMS messages.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Wednesday (August 28, 2024) issued a consultation paper proposing certain amendments to its anti-spam regulations, even as the regulator struggles to keep up with a renewed flood of fraudulent and spam calls and SMS messages proliferating in India.

The proposed amendments to the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 include a mandatory tariff for phone calls placed and text messages sent from ten-digit mobile numbers beyond a certain quantity every day.

TRAI sought “stronger financial disincentives for violation of regulatory provisions, and revised regulations for senders and telemarketers,” the regulator said in a press release.

Also Read: TRAI tells telcos to crack down on SMS spammers

The consultation follows a series of steps the regulator and different government bodies have taken as spam calls rise. On Tuesday (August 27), a joint committee of regulators, chaired by TRAI with representatives from the Reserve Bank of India, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and other government bodies, met to discuss the menace of spam and fraud communications. 

The scams are growing in sophistication — just last week, for instance, TRAI put out a clarification that “lot of pre-recorded calls are being made to the citizens claiming to be from TRAI,” with the regulator warning that it “does not initiate communication with customers regarding mobile number disconnection through messages or otherwise.”

Also Read: DoT launches services to report, monitor spam and fraud calls