DoT's likely 100-day aim: Govt to crack down on rising spam calls, messages

New inter-ministerial panel to coordinate policy, AI-based consent platform in works

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) is planning to check rising spam calls and text messages through multiple interventions within the first 100 days of the new government taking office, according to officials.

A new inter-ministerial panel to check spam, updates to the Chakshu portal, and the mandatory implementation of artificial intelligence-based digital consent-acquisition (DCA) technology by telcos are among the steps being planned by the department, they added.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had asked ministers to draft key deliverables and a road map from their ministries for the first 100 days of the government if the same government continued.

Classified as “unsolicited commercial communication” (UCCS), usually sent by unregistered telemarketers (UTMs), spam has been highlighted as a key focus.

A new panel for curbing spam is expected to be set up for better coordination. It will include the DoT, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The panel will work on draft guidelines for phone calls made over the internet and WhatsApp, a key area of concern, officials said. It may also include telecom operators.

The department is planning to roll out updates to its Chakshu portal, which allows citizens to report mobile numbers suspected of fraudulent communication received on call, short messaging service (SMS), or social media like WhatsApp. Launched in March, it triggers re-verification of suspected fraudulent numbers. Failing re-verification, the number will be disconnected.

“The platform is foolproof but some people have raised some queries on whether it can be misused by mischievous elements. The portal will be updated to further tighten watch not only on fraud but also large volumes of spam that originate from certain numbers,” an official said.

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Implementing DCA

The department is also planning to step up the DCA platform by telcos, mandated by Trai last year, to curb spam and excessive tele-calling. A unified platform to seek, maintain, and revoke consent given by customers on receiving commercial communication from businesses, DCA was brought in to give consumers control over who can message them.

However, Trai has flagged the slow pace exhibited by operators like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd in taking private businesses into the system. But the operators have blamed the sluggish response from industry. Till now, there is no unified system for customers to provide or revoke consent. In the earlier system, customer consent was obtained and maintained by businesses.

The problem often starts when these businesses purchase bulk SMS from a telemarketer to send texts to its clients and customers. As a result, telecom service providers cannot check the veracity of consent.