Trai's new message norms: Your OTPs safe, but spam may have a hard time

Trai's new message traceability norms go live from Dec 11 and aim to protect users by ensuring OTPs and essential messages are delivered seamlessly, while tackling spam and fraudulent communication

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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is set to enforce its new message traceability norms from Wednesday, December 11. This initiative aims to curb spam and fraudulent communication by ensuring that all commercial messages are fully traceable. The regulation applies to major telecom providers, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, BSNL, and Vodafone Idea.

 

What is message traceability?

Message traceability is a system designed to ensure that every commercial message sent to a recipient can be traced back to its origin. This includes identifying all parties involved, from telemarketers to service providers.

 

Why is the message traceability norm necessary?

The system seeks to improve transparency in communication by ensuring promotional and transactional messages are clearly identified and regulated. The primary goal is to protect mobile users from spam and scam messages.

 

What does this mean for commercial messages?

From today, any commercial message that does not comply with traceability requirements will be rejected. This includes messages where the sender-receiver chain is undefined or incorrect. Telecom providers have been instructed to issue daily warnings to defaulters and block non-compliant messages.

 

Will OTPs be affected?

Telecom providers had initially expressed concerns about the potential impact on one-time passwords (OTPs), which are crucial for online transactions. This concern was a key reason for delays in implementing the system, as providers required additional time to update their systems.

 

E-commerce companies, however, have largely mitigated this risk by adopting alternative platforms like WhatsApp and in-app notifications for delivering critical messages such as OTPs. Trai has assured users that essential messages, including OTPs, will not face delays under the new framework.

 

How did we get here?

Trai first issued directions in August 2024 mandating traceability for all commercial messages starting November 1, 2024. Telecom providers requested more time to upgrade their systems, leading to extensions to December 1 and eventually December 10 to ensure smooth implementation.

 

Trai collaborated with stakeholders, including government departments, regulators like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), as well as industry associations. Webinars and direct engagements with Principal Entities (PEs) and telemarketers were conducted to explain the system.

 

According to the Ministry of Communications, over 27,000 organisations have already registered their message chains, and more registrations are ongoing.

 

The road ahead

With approximately 1.5–1.7 billion commercial messages sent daily in India, these norms represent a significant shift in managing promotional and transactional communication. Trai hopes this measure will protect users from fraudulent practices while ensuring the smooth delivery of essential communications.