The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in order to address the ongoing menace of spam calls and malicious communications, held a meeting with all major Telecom Service Providers on August 8, 2024. The aim was to regulate and tighten the control over unwanted communications. such as spam calls and bulk commercial messages.

The following key issues and decisions were made by TRAI, which are to be followed by entities sending commercial communications-

1. Blacklisting of Entities Making Spam Calls via PRI/SIP Lines for Commercial Communications

TRAI highlighted the misuse of Primary Rate Interface (PRI) and Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) lines for making bulk commercial communications. As such Telecom Service Providers will disconnect the telecom resources of any entity found misusing its PRI or SIP connections to make spam calls. Furthermore such entities will be blacklisted for up to two years, during which no telecom resources will be allocated to them by any TSP.

2. Migration of Telemarketers to the DLT Platform

The meeting also focused on the need for all telemarketers and entities which send bulk communications to migrate to the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform. The DLT system is designed to ensure greater transparency and traceability in communication, helping authorities pinpoint the origin of spam.

3. Entity and Telemarketer Chain Binding:

To further support Telecom Service Providers in tracking message flows and identifying sources of spam communications, TRAI has directed them to implement the Entity and Telemarketer Chain Binding by October 31, 2024.

4. Whitelisting of URLs for Security

Further to reduce the risk of malicious activities through SMS, URLs, and other communication channels, TRAI has mandated the whitelisting of URLs. From October 1, 2024, any message containing URLs or APKs that are not whitelisted will not be delivered.

TRAI’s recent meeting focused on the urgency of tackling spammers, particularly voice calls, robo-calls, and pre-recorded calls, which have become pervasive. All Telecom Service Providers were requested to implement TRAI’s directions within the prescribed timeframes.

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