Trai plans extra fee, penalty on operators allowing robocalls, spam messages

The telecom regulator has proposed additional charges and penalties on operators that allow bulk spam calls and messages, as the menace has exploded with the rise of automation.

A maximum of 5 paise per minute termination charge will have to be paid by the operator from whose network robocalls originate—from numbers other than 1400 or 1600 series—to the carrier which receives such communication, according to the proposal released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday.