Telcos slam TRAI's spam regulations, urge action on telemarketers instead

Telcos criticised the lack of regulations for OTT communication services, highlighting their growing role in spam proliferation, while new norms introduce significantly higher penalties for operators

Private telecom operators in India have opposed the new spam control rules issued by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The main concern of telcos is the exclusion of Over-The-Top (OTT) communication service providers such as WhatsApp and Telegram from the new rules.

 

The telecom companies issued a statement today, February 17, where they mentioned that they are also not happy with the significant hike in penalties for non-compliance. 

 

They argued that telemarketers are the true originators and beneficiaries of unsolicited commercial communication and they should be held accountable instead. 

 

The director general of the Cellular Operators Association of India, SP Kochhar said, “The COAI is disappointed to see that TRAI’s amendment to strengthen consumer protection against Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) has been issued without resolving all relevant issues.” 

 

What is the penalty for non-compliance?

The telecom operators now face financial penalties in case they fail to comply with new regulations, especially for misreporting spam communication. The fine begins with Rs 2 lakh for the violation and this could further rise to Rs 5 lakh for the second time and reach Rs 10 lakh for further offence. If such violations are repeated, it could lead to the suspension of telecom services.

COAI not happy with new rules

All telecom operators must analyse calls and SMS patterns which are based on parameters like high call volumes, short call durations, and low incoming to outgoing call rations which flag potential spammers in real-time. 

 

The COAI director general also mentioned that Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018 rules were issued without addressing crucial industry concerns.

 

COAI is not happy with the latest TRAI’s amendment of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018 which strengthens consumer protection against Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC). However, telecoms believe that they have not addressed the key issues.

 

COAI also raised concerns over the latest amendments which did not bring OTT Communication Service Providers under the ambit of new regulations nor did it address the USS issues at its source. 

 

According to COAI, "While the TSPs have taken ample steps to curb spam calls and messages, there has been a significant increase in the quantum of unsolicited communications as well as legitimate commercial communication, that has moved to OTT communication apps, substantially leading to the rise in financial crimes in the country." 

 

COAI, which represents major telecom players like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea, urged TRAI to make necessary changes for delivery telemarketers (TMs) before implementing the amendment.

 

Another issue that is not being addressed is to reduce subjectivity from the regulation as well as compliance, which is based on the relationship between principal entities and their consumers. 

 

"Since operators have made all the efforts that have considerably reduced their UCC complaints to a very low level, we were of the view that the telecom operators should not be penalised for unwarranted actions of some other subscribers," COAI added.

 

Now, it is not necessary for telecom subscribers to register under the DND (Do Not Disturb) list to make complaints against unregistered pesky callers, which means those who call from phone numbers that do not start with prefixes like 140 and 160. Consumers will also have the choice to opt out of promotional messages, which are sent by their service providers.