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भारतीय दूरसंचार विनियामक प्राधिकरण
TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA
भारत सरकार / Government of India
October 28, 2024
DIRECTION
Subject: Direction under section 13, read with sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997) regarding measures to curb misuse of Headers and Content Templates under Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (6 of 2018).
F. No. D-27/1/(2)/2024-QoS (E-13563) - Whereas the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (hereinafter referred as the “Authority”), established under sub-section (1) of section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997) (hereinafter referred to as “TRAI Act”), has been entrusted with discharge of certain functions, inter alia, to regulate the telecommunication services; ensure technical compatibility and effective inter-connection between different service providers; lay-down the standards of quality of service to be provided by the service providers and ensure the quality of service and conduct the periodical survey of such services provided by the service providers so as to protect the interest of the consumers of telecommunication service;
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And whereas the Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under section 36, read with sub-clause (v) of clause (b) and clause (c) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the TRAI Act, made the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (6 of 2018) dated the 19th July, 2018 (hereinafter referred to as the “regulations”), to regulate unsolicited commercial communications;
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And whereas the Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under section 13, read with sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the TRAI Act and the provisions of the regulations, issued a Direction No. D-27/1/(2)/2024-QoS (E-13563) dated the 20th August 2024 regarding measures to curb misuse of Headers and Content Templates under the regulations directing all Access Providers to, inter alia, ensure that end-to-end implementation of 140xxx numbering series on DLT platform, including migration of existing telemarketers and scrubbing of calls as per regulations, is completed latest by 30th September 2024; traffic containing URLs/ APKs/ OTT links/ Call back numbers, which are not whitelisted, is not permitted with effect from 01st September, 2024 (later revised to 01st October 2024 vide Direction No. D-27/I(2)/2024-QoS (E-13563) dated 30th August 2024); the messages from Principal Entities to the recipient are traceable and, w.e.f. 01st November 2024, all messages, where the chain of Telemarketers is not defined or does not match, are rejected;
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And whereas the Access Providers informed that they have implemented the end-to-end implementation of 140xxx numbering series on DLT platform and whitelisting of URLs/ APKs/ OTT links in the messages as per Direction dated 20th August 2024 and Direction dated 30th August 2024;
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And whereas the Authority held a meeting on 09th October 2024, with the Access Providers to review the implementation of the traceability of messages from Principal Entity (PE) to the recipient as directed vide Direction dated 20th August 2024, and during the meeting the Access Providers submitted that -
(a) they will complete the technical implementation of the solution on the DLT platform before 01st November 2024;
(b) the portal for Principal Entities to register the Principal Entities-Telemarketer (PE-TM) chain will also be operationalized before 01st November 2024 by all concerned Access Providers;
(c) sufficient time be given to ensure comprehensive dissemination of information to all Telemarketers and Principal Entities, configuration of technical platforms for both Principal Entities and Telemarketers and declaration of the chain by all Principal Entities and associated Telemarketers;
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And whereas the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), vide letter no. DG/COAI/2024/409 dated 18th October 2024, inter alia, informed the Authority about technical readiness of the Access Providers for implementation of the traceability of messages from Principal Entities to the recipients and the challenges which may be faced at the end of the Principal Entities and the Telemarketers to register their complete chain on the DLT Platform and thus, requested the Authority to allow the Access Providers to implement the Principal Entity-Telemarketer binding in logger mode from 01st November 2024, wherein Access Providers will not block the traffic because of hash mismatch or chain not registered or any other reason, however, Access Providers will send daily reports to Telemarketers and Principal Entities to enable them to take corrective measures, and COAI further requested the Authority that blocking mode be enabled by 01st December 2024;
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Now, therefore, after a holistic review of the implementation-related issues raised by the Access Providers, the Authority, in exercise of the powers conferred upon it under section 13, read with sub-clauses (i) and (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11, of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997) and the provisions of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (6 of 2018), and in partial modification of para 10(c) of Direction No. D-27/1/(2)/2024-QoS (E-13563) dated the 20th August 2024, hereby directs all the Access Providers to –
(a) ensure that all the Principal Entities (PE) and Telemarketers (TM) shall complete the PE-TM chain binding at the earliest to avoid disruption in the transmission of messages;
(b) conduct awareness campaigns through webinars, emails and other means to inform, educate and train the Principal Entities and Telemarketers regarding PE-TM chain binding process and the activities to be undertaken by them in this regard;
(c) issue a warning on daily basis to defaulting Principal Entities and Telemarketers who continue to send messages without defining the requisite PE-TM chain binding or upgrading their systems, to take corrective actions at the earliest, failing which the Access Providers shall ensure that no messages shall be transmitted with effect from 30th November 2024;
(d) submit to the Authority, until 30th November 2024, a daily progress report regarding messages complying to or failing to comply to the chain-binding process;
(e) reject the messages, with effect from 01st December 2024, where the complete chain is not defined or does not match with pre-defined chain.
- All Access Providers are directed to comply with the above Directions and furnish to the Authority an updated status on action taken, including updating of Codes of Practice (CoPs), within fifteen days from the date of issue of this Direction.
[Signature]
(Jaipal Singh Tomar)
Advisor (QoS-II)
To
All Access Providers
