TRAI Directs Indian Telcos to Cease Spam Calls, Blacklist Callers Utilizing Blockchain Technology

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is taking energetic measures to manage the menace of spam calls within the nation. In a current transfer, the nation’s telecom watchdog has issued a directive to all community suppliers, asking them to cease promotional calls from unregistered callers, stated an official assertion launched by TRAI stated on August 13. As a part of this order, TRAI has additionally requested telecom companies working in India to blacklist spam calls, a lot of which pose monetary threats to the nationals.

As per this directive from TRAI, all telecom operators in India are required to curb promotional calls whether or not they’re pre-recorded, pc generated or in any other case from Unregistered Telemarketers (UTMs) or unregistered senders.

“This decisive action by TRAI is expected to significantly reduce spam calls and provide relief to consumers,” the assertion signed by TRAI Secretary, Atul Kumar Chaudhary stated.

The telecom regulator has additionally selected the implications for many who break this rule. As per its discover, any unregistered telemarketer discovered exploiting its telecom assets may lose all their telephone connection assets. The community disconnection will probably be overseen and carried out by the Originating Access Provider (OAP) and will final for 2 years. During the blacklisted interval, these UTMs is not going to be issued new telecom assets by any entry supplier.

TRAI Turns to Blockchain for Spam Call Control

The blockchain know-how, also called the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) has been adopted by the TRAI as a part of its efforts to curb the issue of elevated spam calls in India.

In its assertion, the telecom regulator stated, “information regarding blacklisting of the Sender shall be shared by the OAP with all other Access Providers on DLT platform, within 24 hours.” After this, all of the telecom assets given to the sender will probably be disconnected.

In addition, UTMs making business voice calls may even be migrated to TRAI’s blockchain platform inside 30 days of this discover’s issuance. UTMs have been requested to then submit compliance report inside seven days thereafter. The information about TRAI launching its blockchain platform for these functions first got here in November 2023.

“All access providers have been directed to comply with these directives and submit regular updates on the actions taken on the 1st and 16th of every month,” TRAI’s assertion added.

Commenting on TRAI’s adoption of blockchain, Sharat Chandra advised Gadgets360 that that is TRAI’s try to make sure that solely authentic entities can ship bulk communications, thereby defending shoppers from fraudulent actions. Chandra is the founding father of blockchain-focussed funding agency known as EmpowerEdge Ventures.

“The implementation of blockchain by TRAI is poised to significantly improve the daily lives of citizens by fostering a safer and transparent communication environment,” Chandra stated.