Telecom Companies to Pay Rs 35 Crore Fine for Failing to Curb Spam Calls, SMS

Telecom companies have had to pay heavy fines for failing to block spam calls and SMS on their networks. Last month, telecom regulator TRAI directed telcos to create a unified digital platform for obtaining consent from customers for promotional calls messages.

In this regard, Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has written a letter to the Rajya Sabha. Answer Telecom companies have disconnected 15,382 and 32,032 connections respectively in the last two years for violating the Telecom Commercial Communication Customers Preference Regulation (TCCCPR). TRAI has imposed a penalty of Rs 34.99 crore on telecom companies for failing to curb commercial communication without consent from registered telemarketers.

In the Unified Digital Platform that telecom companies have been directed to prepare, in the first phase only subscribers will be able to initiate the process of giving their consent to receive promotional calls and SMS. The firms will then be able to approach customers for their consent to send promotional messages. Telecom companies like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have also been directed to use short codes starting with 127 to send consent messages. TRAI had issued Telecom Commercial Customer Preference Regulations to prevent the problem of spam calls and messages. In addition, an ecosystem based on blockchain (Distributed Ledger Technology – DLT) was created.

Under these regulations, all commercial promoters and telemarketers were required to register on the DLT platform and obtain consent from the customer to receive various promotional messages on the day and time of his choice during the day. About 2.5 lakh entities have registered on this platform. Last year, TRAI reported that it has reduced customer complaints for registered telemarketers by up to 60 percent. However, non-registered telemarketers The problem of spam calls and messages from A joint action plan is also being prepared to stop the use of telecom resources in financial fraud. For this, apart from TRAI, a Joint Committee of Regulators of Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board and Ministry of Consumer Affairs has been formed.