TRAI’s Anti-Spam Rules Unfairly Target Telecom Firms, Says Industry Body
Financial disincentives imposed on telecom firms do not serve any purpose and fail to address the core issue of curbing unsolicited commercial communications, COAI said.

The Cellular Operators Association of India on Monday called out the recently introduced changes to curb the menace of spam calls and SMSes, saying that the amendments do not address a host of relevant concerns.
COAI represents private telecom providers such as Bharti Airtel Ltd., Vodafone Idea Ltd., and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd.
“We believe that a more comprehensive approach is required to tackle the issue effectively,” the body said.
Financial disincentives imposed on telecom firms do not serve any purpose and fail to address the core issue of curbing unsolicited commercial communications, COAI said. If such disincentives are required, then the same should be imposed on actual originators of such calls and messages and not on telecom companies, it said.
Earlier this month, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India introduced amendments to the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations of 2018. TRAI has said that in case telecom operators fail to implement these regulations, financial disincentives up to Rs 10 lakh can be imposed on them.
Since operators have made all the efforts that have considerably reduced their unsolicited commercial communication complaints to a very low level, we were of the view that the telecom operators should not be penalised for the unwarranted actions of some other subscribers.Cellular Operators Association of India
Moreover, the amendments fall short in bringing communications conducted on OTT communication apps under its purview, the COAI claimed. Over-the-top communication apps include WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, and the like.
“While the telecom service providers have taken ample steps to curb spam calls and messages, there has been a significant increase in the quantum of unsolicited communications, as well as legitimate commercial communication that has moved to OTT communication apps, substantially leading to the rise in financial crimes in the country,” COAI stated.
TRAI has not taken into account one of the body's most important concerns, whereby the telecom firms were seeking to bring telemarketers under the licensing regime. This, the COAI said, would have aided the government and authorities to have legal control over entities responsible for sending pesky communications.
In the current digital landscape, both OTT communication providers and telemarketers have become major stakeholders in messaging. Thus, it would be critical to establish a regulatory framework to ensure accountability from all stakeholders in the ecosystem, COAI remarked.