The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recently imposed fines on major telecom operators for not doing enough to tackle the issue of spam calls and messages. Telecom giants like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea (Vi), BSNL, and several smaller companies are now facing penalties under the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR).
In the latest round of fines, TRAI has slapped ₹12 crore in penalties. When you add up the previous fines, the total amount these companies owe now stands at ₹141 crore. However, these dues remain unpaid, and TRAI has asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to recover the money by using the telecom operators’ bank guarantees. A decision on this request is still pending from DoT.
The TCCCPR, which was introduced in 2010, aims to protect consumers from unwanted spam calls and messages. The regulations give customers the ability to block promotional content, require telemarketers to register officially, restrict the time when promotional calls or messages can be made, and impose penalties for violations.
Telecom operators, however, argue that the spam issue is largely caused by businesses and telemarketers, not by the telecom companies themselves. They believe it’s unfair to penalize them since they are just intermediaries. They also point out that they have already made substantial investments to reduce spam, even though some spammers still find ways to bypass the regulations.
The telecom companies are also urging TRAI to expand these regulations to include over-the-top (OTT) platforms like WhatsApp, banks, and other businesses. They argue that these platforms are major contributors to spam traffic and should be subject to regulation as well.
TRAI is currently in the process of revising and strengthening the TCCCPR to better address the spam issue. In a recent meeting, telecom operators emphasized that spam will only be fully eradicated if all players in the ecosystem, including OTT platforms and businesses, are held accountable for their role in creating spam traffic.
This situation highlights the ongoing challenge of dealing with spam. While TRAI is pushing for stricter rules, telecom operators feel that it’s a shared problem that involves more than just the telecom companies, and they are asking for broader regulation. The next steps depend on how TRAI revises the regulations and how DoT responds to the recovery of fines.