TRAI Issues New Directives to Curb Misuse of Messaging Services, Enhance Consumer Protection

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) today issued directions for enforcement of measures to curb the misuse of messaging services and protect consumers from fraudulent practices. Through a Direction issued today, TRAI has mandated all Access Service Providers to ensure the following:

1. TRAI has mandated the Access Service Providers to migrate telemarketing calls starting with 140 series to online DLT platform latest by 30^th September 2024 for better monitoring and control.
2. Effective from 1^st September 2024, all Access Service Providers will be prohibited from transmitting messages containing URLs, APKs, OTT links, or call back numbers which are not whitelisted by the Senders.
3. To enhance message traceability, TRAI has mandated that the trail of all messages from Senders to recipients must be traceable from 1^st November 1, 2024. Any message with an undefined or mismatched telemarketer chain will be rejected.
4. To deter the misuse of templates for promotional content, TRAI has introduced punitive measures for non-compliance. Content Templates registered under the wrong category will be blacklisted, and repeated offenses will lead to a one-month suspension of the Sender’s services.
5. To ensure compliance with regulations, all Headers and Content Templates registered on DLT must adhere to prescribed guidelines. Additionally, a single Content Template cannot be linked to multiple Headers.
6. In case misuse of headers or content templates of any Sender comes to the notice, TRAI has directed immediate suspension of traffic from all the Headers and Content Templates of that Sender for their verification. Revocation of traffic from the Sender shall be done only after legal action is taken by the Sender against such misuse. Further, Delivery-Telemarketers must identify and report entities responsible for such misuse within two business days, failing which they will face similar consequences.

The stakeholders are advised to refer to the direction available at TRAI website www.trai.gov.in for the exact text of the Direction.

These measures have been taken forward TRAI’s initiatives to ensure a clean and secure messaging ecosystem, safeguarding consumer interests and preventing fraudulent activities.