Crackdown on pesky telemarketers: TRAI asks telcos to curb misuse of msg headers, content templates

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Tuesday hardened its stance on pesky telemarketers, as it directed telcos to take specific measures to curb misuse of messaging services and protect consumers from fraudulent practices.

Continuing its offensive against unsolicited spam calls and messages, TRAI made it clear that from September 1, 2024, all access service providers will be prohibited from transmitting messages containing URLs, OTT links, or callback numbers which are not 'whitelisted' (authorised) by the senders.

To enhance message traceability, TRAI has mandated that the trail of all messages from senders to recipients must be traceable from November 1, 2024. Any message with an undefined or mismatched telemarketer chain will be rejected.

The latest move assumes significance as TRAI has cracked the whip on unauthorised telemarketers indulging in promotional calls and messages to telecom subscribers. Last week, TRAI directed telcos to disconnect all telecom resources of unregistered telemarketers found making spam calls, and to blacklist them for up to two years.

The telecom regulator has now "issued directions for enforcement of measures to curb the misuse of messaging services and protect consumers from fraudulent practices."

"TRAI has mandated the Access Providers to migrate telemarketing calls starting with 140 series to online DLT platform latest by September 30, 2024 for better monitoring and control," it said.

To deter the misuse of templates for promotional content, TRAI has introduced punitive measures for non-compliance. Content templates registered under the wrong category will be blacklisted, and repeated offences will lead to a one-month suspension of the sender's services, it asserted.

To ensure compliance with regulations, all message headers and content templates registered on DLT must adhere to prescribed guidelines. Additionally, a single content template cannot be linked to multiple headers, TRAI said.

Put simply, headers are assigned to business entities to send out commercial communications and they enable such entities to identify themselves while sending messages to subscribers.

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"In case misuse of headers or content templates of any sender comes to the notice, TRAI has directed immediate suspension of traffic from all the headers and content templates of that sender for their verification," it said.

Revocation of traffic from the sender shall be done only after legal action is taken by the sender against such misuse.

Further, delivery-telemarketers must identify and report entities responsible for such misuse within two business days, failing which they will face similar consequences, as per TRAI.

TRAI said the latest measures take forward its efforts to ensure a clean and secure messaging ecosystem, safeguarding consumer interests and preventing fraudulent activities.