TRAI Convenes Meeting of JCoR to Protect Consumers from Spam and Fraud

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) convened a meeting of the Joint Committee of Regulators (JCoR) on August 27, 2024, at its headquarters in New Delhi. Members of the JCoR from IRDAI, PFRDA, RBI, SEBI, MoCA, MeitY, and TRAI attended the meeting. Additionally, DoT and MHA representatives joined as special guests. The JCoR serves as a collaborative platform to examine regulatory implications in the digital age and work collaboratively on regulatory frameworks.

In his address, TRAI Chairman Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti stressed the need for a joint effort to tackle the problem of spam messages and calls. He urged the regulators to discuss and enable implementation of (i) whitelisting of URLs, APKs, OTT links and call back numbers to be sent in SMS, (ii) migration of existing telemarketers making promotional calls to 140 series on DLT platform, and (iii) declaration of entire chain of telemarketers engaged by them for PE-TM chain binding.

The meeting explored potential collaborative efforts and strategies to address UCC and fraud through telecom resources. The key issues discussed are as given below-

• Role of Entities in Whitelisting of URLs, APKs, OTT links, and call back numbers in the content templates and ensuring the traceability of all the messages from Senders to recipients – Many instances of misuse of headers and templates have been observed. Fraud takes place through the transmission of malicious links using the variable parts of the messages. In case of misuse of headers and content templates, it is difficult to find the entity that pushed the traffic. Therefore, mandatory whitelisting of URLs, APKs, OTT links, or call back numbers, and declaration of entire chain of telemarketers engaged by them for PE-TM chain binding as per the timelines fixed by TRAI’s latest Directions needs to be enforced.
• Addressing the issue of entities using PRI/ SIP channels for making unsolicited calls – Many business entities make commercial voice calls using SIP/ PRI lines with hundreds of indicators in violation of TRAI’s regulations. These entities should be migrated to the designated 140 series for making promotional calls. Also, there is an urgent need to take firm action, without further delay, on spammers who are using PRI/ SIP/ bulk connections for making promotional voice calls/ Robo calls/ Pre-recorded calls.
• Leveraging the DCA system established by telecom service providers to obtain digital consent from consumers – DCA system will be of great value to the entities, not only for messaging services, but also for voice calls. It permits the delivery of Messages and calls to the recipients despite their DND preference. The technical infrastructure for DCA is now in place. Regulators were requested to ask the entities under their jurisdiction to start using this facility in time bound manner.
• Use of 160 series by the Entities for making service and transactional calls for easy identification by the consumers – 160 series has been allocated exclusively for Service and Transactional Calls. A Pilot Study was commissioned by TRAI and RBI to determine the technical feasibility of various options, the outcome of the same was discussed.
• Enhancing information exchange among regulators to control frauds using telecom resources – Emphasis was given to exchange information available with various regulators on their platforms and for its effective utilisation to control frauds.

By addressing these issues collectively, the JCoR aims to protect consumers from the harms of spam and fraud while ensuring a more secure and efficient telecom ecosystem.