The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) held a key meeting of the Joint Committee of Regulators (JCoR) on August 27, 2024, at its headquarters in New Delhi. The meeting brought together representatives from IRDAI, PFRDA, RBI, SEBI, MoCA, MeitY, and TRAI, with special guests from DoT and MHA. The JCoR serves as a collaborative platform to address regulatory challenges in the digital age and to develop unified approaches.
TRAI Chairman Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti stressed the importance of a coordinated effort to combat spam messages and fraudulent calls. He called on regulators to concentrate on three main areas: (i) whitelisting URLs, APKs, OTT links, and callback numbers in SMS content, (ii) migrating telemarketers making promotional calls to the 140 series on the DLT platform, and (iii) ensuring transparency in the telemarketing chain through PE-TM chain binding.
Key discussions during the meeting included:
- Whitelisting Digital Content: Emphasis was placed on the necessity of whitelisting URLs, APKs, OTT links, and callback numbers in content templates to prevent fraud. The misuse of headers and templates has led to malicious activities, making it challenging to trace the responsible parties. Mandatory whitelisting, as per TRAI’s latest directives, was highlighted as a crucial step.
- Migrating to the 140 Series for Promotional Calls: Many businesses use SIP/PRI channels to make unsolicited calls, which violates TRAI regulations. The meeting stressed the need to migrate these entities to the 140 series and take firm action against spammers using bulk connections for promotional or pre-recorded calls.
- Digital Consent Acquisition (DCA) System: The DCA system, set up by telecom service providers, enables businesses to obtain digital consent from consumers for messaging and voice calls, even if they are registered on DND. Regulators were encouraged to ensure timely adoption of this system by entities within their jurisdictions.
- Utilization of the 160 Series for Service and Transactional Calls: The 160 series, reserved for service and transactional calls, was also discussed. TRAI and RBI conducted a pilot study to explore the technical feasibility of various options, with the results being reviewed during the meeting.
- Enhancing Information Sharing Among Regulators: The importance of sharing information across regulatory bodies to effectively combat fraud using telecom resources was a key focus.
By addressing these issues together, the JCoR aims to better protect consumers from the harms of spam and fraud while creating a more secure and efficient telecom ecosystem.
