TRAI’s big action on fake and spam calls, strict instructions to telecom companies; If you break the rules, your number will be blocked and you will be banned for 1 year.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has taken a tough stance on fake, spam and unwanted promotional calls (Unsolicited Commercial Communication – UCC), which have become a headache for mobile phone users in the country. The regulator has issued strict guidelines to all major telecom service providers (Jio, Airtel, Vi, BSNL) to curb calls coming day and night in the name of financial fraud, loan offers and real estate.

According to the new rules, if any person or organization is found making commercial or promotional calling using a normal 10 digit personal mobile number, direct and strict punitive action will be taken against him. The regulator has clarified that connections of telemarketers harassing consumers despite repeated warnings will be immediately disconnected and they will be blacklisted for a period of one year.

Telecom regulator has made the rules extremely strict to make telemarketing activities transparent and controlled:

1. Suspension of SIM and Telecom Resources: If it is confirmed that promotional calls or SMS are being sent illegally in bulk from any general number, the concerned telecom operator will immediately block all outgoing calls and SMS from that number.

2. Complete blacklisting for 1 year: In case of first serious violation of rules or investigation proves unauthorized telemarketing, all telecom resources (SIM cards) issued in the name of that organization or individual will be disconnected. Along with this, there will be a complete ban on issuing new SIM cards by any operator in the country for the next 1 year on that name/identity.

3. Mandatory use of 140 and 160 series: All authorized and registered telemarketers are instructed to use only the prescribed number series (e.g. 140 or 160). Any type of automated or robo calling from a normal 10 digit number is completely illegal.

TRAI has ordered telecom operators to further activate their ‘Distributed Ledger Technology’ (DLT) platforms and Artificial Intelligence (AI) powered spam detection tools. The main features of this technical system are as follows:

• Identification of suspicious patterns: If an individual number makes unusually hundreds of calls a day or bulk SMS are forwarded at the same time, the network’s algorithm will immediately flag it in the suspicious category.

• Matching header and content: It is mandatory to match the headers of official messages (transactional and promotional) sent by banks, financial institutions and e-commerce companies with the registered template. Messages containing unregistered URLs or APK file links are being blocked at the network level.

If you are still bothered by unwanted or fake calls, here are some ways you can ensure you take action:

• Activate DND (Do Not Disturb): by going to your phone’s message box START 0 by writing 1909 send over. This will block all types of unwanted promotional services on your number.

• File complaint on 1909: If a commercial call is received from any number even after DND is activated, lodge a complaint through SMS to 1909 by writing the details of that number and time within 3 days of receiving the call (format: COMP TEL NO, dd/mm/yy, Time).

• TRAI DND 3.0 App: Consumers can directly report spam calls and messages by downloading the ‘TRAI DND’ app from Google Play Store or Apple App Store, thereby placing a legal obligation on the concerned operator to investigate the number.