TRAI Directs Telecom Firms To Black List Spam Callers For Up To Two Years

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has directed all telecom operators to black list any entity found misusing its telephone connections for spam calls. The entities indulging in spam calls face black listing for up to two years by telecommunication companies.

The Department of Telecom also shared the new rules, aimed at preventing spam calls and messages, in a post on social media platform X on Aug. 11.

As per TRAI decisions, if any entity misuses its Session Initiation Protocol or Primary Rate Interface lines for making spam calls, all the telecom resources of the entity shall be disconnected by its telecom service provider, the DoT post read. Using telecom resources to make spam calls will also result in the entity being blacklisted by the telecom service provider.

Details of the entity responsible for making spam calls will be shared by the telecom service provider with all other telecom service providers. As per the new norms, the other telecom service providers will also disconnect all the telecom resources given by them to that entity and blacklist it for up to two years, the DoT said. No new resources will be allocated to the entity by any telecom service provider during the two-year blacklisting period.

As per the new guidelines, with effect from Sept. 1, 2024, no message containing URLs/APKs that are not whitelisted, shall be allowed to be delivered. The technical implementation of the entity and telemarketer chain binding for ensuring traceability of the message flow will be completed by the telecom service providers latest by Oct. 31, 2024, DoT said.

On Aug. 7, the DoT disclosed that as many as 7.3 million mobile connections obtained on fake identity or address documents were disconnected by telecom operators. The DoT has developed a system to detect fraudulent mobile connections taken on fake proof of identity or proof of address documents, as per reports.