Telecom regulator penalises over 1.24 lakh resources and blacklists 374 senders in spam clampdown

UPDATE - follow-up to TRAI crackdown on spam: Over 1.24 lakh mobile connections barred or disconnected in July-September: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India took enforcement action against more than 1.24 lakh telecom resources and blacklisted 374 entities for one year during the July-September quarter to curb spam. A total of 1,10,325 telecom resources were barred from outgoing services for 15 days for a first violation. Another 13,777 connections were disconnected for one year due to repeat violations. The regulator blocked 3,725 SMS headers and stopped those blacklisted senders from getting fresh telecom resources for a year. TRAI received 15.29 lakh complaints about unsolicited commercial communications during the quarter. Out of these, 7.23 lakh complaints were marked as actionable out of 714.01 billion calls and 702.28 billion SMSes originating across networks. The complaint rate stood at roughly 2.14 per million outgoing calls.

Action and App Data

The TRAI DND App acted as the main channel for reporting spam. It accounted for 14.21 lakh complaints, making up 92.9 percent of all grievances received. The app recorded 42.36 lakh downloads by September 30. Artificial intelligence systems set up by telecom operators flagged 19.9 billion incoming calls and SMSes as suspected spam. This total included 18.28 billion calls and 1.62 billion messages. Operators issued over 45.9 lakh warning notifications to suspected senders. They also completed electronic know-your-customer checks for 34,025 suspected senders and disconnected 9,977 for failing those verifications.

Numbering and DND

TRAI used dedicated numbering series to separate promotional calls from service and transactional messages. Promotional calls use the 140 series, while banking and government services use the 1600 series. A separate 1601 series was launched on August 10 for utility, logistics, and delivery companies. During the quarter, 15.27 billion promotional calls came through the 140 series, and 1.70 billion were blocked after checking Do Not Disturb preferences. Registered telemarketers originated 660.71 billion commercial SMSes, and 11.09 billion promotional messages were blocked. By September 30, 22.449 crore consumers had registered their choices on the DND registry, covering 16.64 percent of the country's 134.9-crore subscriber base. More than 112 crore subscribers had not registered any preference. Consumer awareness campaigns included radio, television, print, and social media, alongside 322 physical programmes with roughly 31,000 participants.

Context

Unsolicited commercial communication remains a major consumer grievance in India's vast telecommunications ecosystem. Regulators rely on digital tools, apps, and strict numbering series to enforce Do Not Disturb rules and hold telemarketers accountable.