Consent-seeking tech top Trai pick to curb pesky calls and messages

It will take customers' consent on the brands or companies they would like to receive communication from

Digital content authorisation (DCA) is emerging as the favourite among a long list of technologies being researched by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) for reducing pesky calls. It is expected to be rolled out first on a pilot basis in another two months, officials said.

Focusing on what is termed as unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) through spam calls and messages, the list of technologies include a “UCC detect system” and the intelligent scrubbing — by deploying artificial intelligence (AI) and machine language (ML) — of the distributed ledger technology (DLT) platform used by telecom service providers (TSPs).

Among these, the DCA technology has won the highest approval from government stakeholders. DCA will take customers’ consent for the brands or companies they would like to receive communication from. It will also expedite the process of receiving consumer consent on DLT platforms.

“The product is in advanced testing. It may be made available for release into the public network on a trial basis, but it has proven to be capable of meeting the challenge of dealing with spam calls,” a Trai official said.

DLT platforms are digital systems for keeping and managing the record of sender IDs and templates. In India, they are run by TSPs such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Bharat Sanchar Nigam.

Businesses need to register on DLTs by submitting relevant details and get access to exclusive headers and message templates — keywords denoting a business or brand that pops up when a phone user receives a message.

The problem often starts when these businesses, legally classified as principal entities, purchase bulk short messaging service (SMS) from a telemarketer to send SMS texts to its clients and customers. Telemarketers have to be registered on the DLT platform.

Last month, Trai had cracked down on telemarketing firms that spam message inboxes and asked TSPs to scrub their DLT platforms clean and block all unverified telemarketer accounts. In a key move, it said entities involved in message transmission should be identifiable and tracked, if required.

For the time being, Trai had asked TSPs to immediately deactivate temporary headers after the time duration for which such headers were created, and ensure that content variables in the message template do not have the flexibility to insert undesired content.

But pesky calls are one area where a lot of work is left, Trai believes.

Nod from above

Officials said the proposal to soon launch DCA also had the backing of the Joint Committee of Regulators (JCOR), a key inter-ministerial body set up last year to frame an action plan to curb spam and frauds using telecom resources.

On February 23, the committee met in New Delhi under the chairmanship of the Trai chief. “DCA was discussed at the meeting, along with a list of tech and regulatory solutions to curb the problem at the earliest,” an official said. The meeting also deliberated on creating a framework for sharing of UCC data detected by TSPs on DLT platforms.

Apart from representatives from the telecom regulator, Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchanges Board of India and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, the body also has special invitees from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Home Affairs. Last month’s meeting also discussed a pan-Indian roll-out of the Central Equipment Identity Register (CEIR) to stop misuse of mobile handsets, use of AI/ML based anti-phishing systems. The CEIR acts as a central system for all network operators to share blacklisted mobile devices to prevent their use on alternative networks even if the SIM cards in the devices are changed.

Push for regulation

The JCOR had also agreed to yet again direct disparate entities working under the respective regulators and departments to implement the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation (TCCCPR) guidelines in a time-bound manner.

Framed in 2018, the TCCCPR was primarily issued to effectively deal with the nuisance of spamming experienced by subscribers. The directive mandated telecom operators to use blockchain-based DLT systems to curtail spam. In February 2021, the Delhi High Court had directed Trai and telcos to strictly implement the TCCCPR regulations.

On Call

• Digital content authorisation may put a stop to all unwanted commercial communication
• It has been backed by top inter-ministerial body
• Public release to follow after trial 
• Govt has reiterated need to scrub clean DLT platforms used by telecom service providers 
• Trai also exploring other options such as AI/ML-based technology