Submission of Performance Monitoring Report under Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations

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भारतीय दूरसंचार विनियामक प्राधिकरण TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA भारत सरकार / Government of India

Dated: 24th June, 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 submission of Performance Monitoring Report to the Authority under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (6 of 2018).

F. No. D-27/1/(1)/2021-QoS (E-141)---- Whereas the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (hereinafter referred to 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;

2. 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 (UCC);

3. And whereas regulation 8 of the regulations, inter-alia, provides that every Access Provider shall, before allowing any commercial communication through its network, develop Codes of Practice for monthly reporting (CoP-Reports) to the Authority as per Schedule-V, in accordance with the provisions of the regulations;

4. And whereas regulation 19 of the regulations provides that the Authority reserves the right to formulate a standard Code(s) of Practice (CoP) in case the formulated CoP is deficient to serve the purposes of the regulations;

5. And whereas regulation 20 of the regulations provides that every Access Provider shall comply with the provisions of Standard Code(s) of Practice;

6. And whereas sub-regulation (3) of regulation 26 of the regulations provides that every Access Provider shall submit to the Authority its compliance reports in respect of unsolicited commercial communications, complaints or reports from its customers in such manner and format, at such periodic intervals and within such time limits as may be specified by the Authority from time to time, by an order or direction;

7. 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/(1)/2021-QoS dated the 15th February, 2021, directing all Access Providers to submit compliance reports, on quarterly basis, separately for each calendar month in every quarter as per the Performance Monitoring Report formats specified in Annexure I, II, III, IV, V and VI of the said Direction, as a part of Standard Code of Practice for periodic reporting (CoP-Reports), within a period of twenty one days of quarters ending on the 31st March, the 30th June, the 30th September and the 31st December of the year respectively, starting from report for the quarter ending on 31st March, 2021;

8. And whereas, after the issuance of the aforesaid Direction, a letter no D-27/1/(1)/2021-QoS dated the 15th February, 2021 was issued requesting all Access Providers to maintain records of information related to complaints and reports handled by them, both as Terminating Access Provider (TAP) and Originating Access Provider (OAP), as per the format annexed with the letter and submit the same to the Authority as and when sought, or make such records accessible to the Authority in a downloadable file and also provide details of the customers' complaints and preferences based on the query made for mobile number, docket number, registration number, header, etc.;

9. And whereas, while reviewing the information related to complaints and reports received in response to letter no D-27/1/(1)/2021-QoS dated the 15th February, 2021, the Authority observed that there is lack of uniformity in the manner each Access Provider is filling different entries and some information necessary for the analysis of complaints handing is not available in the report and therefore, the Authority is of the opinion that-

(i) additional information as part of Performance Monitoring Report is necessary to effectively monitor overall performance of the measures taken by Access Providers for curbing UCC;

(ii) all data fields in Performance Monitoring Report should be populated with standardized options; and

(iii) for better analysis, the report may be separately segregated in respect of complaints related to Registered Telemarketers (RTM), complaints related to Unregistered Telemarketers (UTM) and information with respect to Mobile Number/Landline Number/SIP/PRI blacklisted/disconnected due to Third UTM violation.

(iv) Performance Monitoring Reports are prepared separately for each calendar month but are submitted on quarterly basis. These reports should be submitted after each calendar month.

10. Now, therefore, 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) hereby directs all Access Providers to submit, along with the compliance reports as per the Performance Monitoring Report formats specified in the Annexures to the Direction No D-27/1/(1)/2021-QoS dated the 15th February 2021, compliance reports, separately for each calendar month as per the Performance Monitoring Report formats specified in Annexure VII, VIII, IX, and X to this direction, as a part of Standard Code of Practice for periodic reporting (CoP-Reports), within ten days from the end of each calendar month starting from report for the month of July 2024.

(Jaipal Singh Tomar) Advisor (QoS-II)

To All Access Providers (including BSNL and MTNL)

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Annexure VII: Details of Complaints related to RTM