TRAI Directs Telecom Companies to Stop Spam Calls, Blacklist Spam Callers

The problem of spam calls has increased in the last few years. Measures are being taken by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to curb the problem of spam calls. TRAI has directed telecom companies to stop promotional calls from unregistered callers.

Along with this, TRAI has asked telecom companies to blacklist spam calls. TRAI As per the directive, all telecom companies in the country need to stop pre-recorded, computer generated or other types of spam calls from unregistered telemarketers or unregistered senders. A statement issued by the telecom regulator said, “This directive is expected to significantly reduce spam calls and provide relief to customers.” Consequences have also been decided for those who break this rule. TRAI’s directive states that if an unregistered telemarketer is found involved in spam calls, he may have to lose his phone connections.

To prevent the problem of spam calls, TRAI has also started using blockchain technology. TRAI has said that information related to blacklisting of the sender of spam calls will be received from the Originating Access Provider (OAP) to all other access providers within 24 hours. After this, all the telecom connections of the sender making spam calls will be disconnected. Apart from this, unregistered telemarketers making commercial voice calls will be shifted to TRAI’s blockchain platform within 30 days of the issue of this notice.

Telecom companies have started trial of Caller ID service in some regions to deal with spam calls. TRAI and the Department of Telecom (DoT) have put pressure on these companies to implement the Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) feature. This can make it easier to stop fake and spam calls. If this feature is fully implemented in the country, then customers will not need third-party caller identification apps. Telecom companies have started the trial of CNAP caller ID display service. Earlier, TRAI had asked to implement CNAP for all mobile phones in the country. However, there was some opposition to this from the telecom companies.