The telecommunications regulator Trai updated its regulatory framework on Friday to restrict unsolicited commercial communications (UCC). The changes include the use of artificial intelligence-based suspicious spam detection technologies, as well as the introduction of an appeal mechanism for consumers.
Under the revised rules, telecom operators are obliged to identify numbers that are highly likely to be used for spam distribution and to exchange this information among themselves. If five or more such numbers are recorded from one sender within ten days, further investigation and appropriate measures will follow, including re-KYC checks, physical verification, suspension of outgoing services, and disconnection in case of repeated violations.
Trai also defined Application-to-Person (A2P) calls as calls initiated by an application, software system, or automated platform without direct manual dialing, which includes auto-dialing, robocalls, and pre-recorded or artificial voice technologies. Entities using A2P calls must notify their telecom operator in advance about their usage and the numbers they employ; calls made without such notification will be considered UCC.
A termination fee of up to 5 paise per minute has also been introduced for A2P calls, subject to certain exceptions. Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) clarified that 'A2P calls made through any number series assigned by the authorities for regulated commercial calls, as well as calls authorized by the authorities, are exempt from the termination fee.'
The amendments also strengthen complaint-based actions. Furthermore, Trai has tightened protection measures against the misuse of content templates and headers, and prohibited call management applications from mass blocking, filtering, or flagging calls as spam from specific series: 140xx, 1600xx, and 1601xx.
