TRAI Bans 10-Digit Numbers for Telemarketing, Imposes Heavy Penalties on Telecom Operators

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has introduced new regulations aimed at tackling the persistent issue of spam calls and messages. Under the amended Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018, TRAI has banned the use of 10-digit mobile numbers for commercial communication and introduced stringent penalties for telecom operators failing to enforce these measures.

While the move is designed to protect consumers from unsolicited commercial communications (UCC), major telecom operators, represented by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), have expressed disappointment, arguing that the new rules unfairly penalize them rather than the actual culprits.

Key Changes Introduced by TRAI

TRAI’s latest amendments are part of an ongoing effort to close regulatory loopholes that allow telemarketers to misuse telecom networks for spam. The key measures include:

Ban on 10-Digit Numbers for Telemarketing

TRAI has officially prohibited commercial communication through standard 10-digit mobile numbers.

Instead, a dedicated number series will be used:

‘140’ series for promotional calls.

‘1600’ series for transactional and service-related calls.

Stricter Penalties for Repeat Offenders

First-time violators will face a 15-day suspension of outgoing telecom services.

Repeat offenders will see telecom resources, such as PRI/SIP trunks, disconnected across all service providers for up to one year.

Telecom operators failing to enforce the new rules will face financial penalties:

₹2 lakh for the first violation.

₹5 lakh for the second violation.

₹10 lakh for every subsequent violation.

Improved Consumer Complaint Mechanism

Consumers no longer need to pre-register their communication preferences before filing complaints.

The complaint window has been extended from 3 days to 7 days for reporting spam messages or calls.

Telecom operators must act within 5 days on complaints (earlier, the limit was 30 days).

The threshold for penalizing senders has been reduced to five complaints within 10 days, down from the previous 10 complaints in seven days.

Enhanced Transparency and User Control

Telecom operators must provide easy complaint registration options via their websites and mobile apps.

Mandatory ‘opt-out’ options must be included in promotional messages, allowing users to block future communication.

Brands must now wait 90 days before re-seeking consent from users who have opted out of marketing messages.

Standardized SMS Headers for Better Identification

To help users differentiate between message types, TRAI has introduced uniform message headers:

(-P) for promotional messages.

(-S) for service-related messages.

(-T) for transactional messages.

(-G) for government communications.

A separate category has also been created to ensure users don’t miss out on essential government-related notifications.

Telecom Operators Push Back Against New Rules

The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which represents major telecom players such as Airtel, Jio, and Vi, has opposed the new TRAI regulations. COAI argues that the burden of compliance and penalties is being unfairly placed on telecom operators rather than the actual telemarketers (TMs) and principal entities (PEs) responsible for spam communications.

COAI’s Key Objections

COAI believes penalties should target telemarketers and business entities benefiting from spam rather than telecom operators.

The industry body had recommended that telemarketers be brought under a licensing framework, which would give the government and TRAI greater legal control over them.

The rules do not cover delivery-based telemarketers or messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram, which are also used for commercial communication.

According to S.P. Kochhar, Director General of COAI, these new penalties will not effectively curb spam, and a more holistic approach is needed to regulate telemarketers directly.

Conclusion

While TRAI’s latest amendments aim to combat spam calls and messages, telecom operators remain dissatisfied, arguing that they are being penalized for issues caused by unregistered telemarketers. The introduction of stricter regulations, standardized message headers, and consumer-friendly complaint mechanisms marks a significant step in protecting users from unsolicited commercial communication. However, unless a comprehensive regulatory framework includes all players in the ecosystem, including telemarketers and messaging platforms, spam calls and messages may continue to be a persistent issue