TRAI Bans Telecom Companies From Sending These Links To Customers From September 1

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed telecom companies to stop sending certain types of messages to customers, specifically those containing APK files, URLs, OTT links, or blacklisted callback numbers. This new regulation will come into effect on September 1.

According to TRAI’s statement, this initiative is part of their broader efforts to promote clean messaging and protect consumers from fraudulent activities. Additionally, TRAI has issued new guidelines regarding telemarketing calls. Starting from September 30, all telemarketing calls must start from numbers beginning with ’30 140′.

Furthermore, last week, TRAI instructed telecom companies to disconnect all telecom resources of non-registered telemarketers who engage in spam calls and to blacklist them for two years. These measures reflect TRAI’s commitment to enhancing consumer safety and reducing the impact of fraudulent communications. To increase the ability to identify the sender of the message, TRAI has made it mandatory that from November 1, the source of all messages from the sender to the receiver can be traced.

In this sequence, any message with an undefined or mismatched telemarketer chain will be rejected. This step of TRAI is important in the sense that the regulator has taken the initiative to crack down on unauthorized telemarketing companies that send promotional calls and messages to telecom customers.

To further strengthen the framework for managing promotional content and safeguarding consumers, TRAI has implemented strict punitive provisions designed to prevent the misuse of the regulations. These provisions are specifically aimed at ensuring that companies adhere to the guidelines and do not exploit the system to send misleading or fraudulent promotional messages.

Under these new rules, if a company registers its promotional content under the wrong category, such content will be immediately blacklisted. This means that the content will be blocked and will not be delivered to the intended recipients. This step is intended to act as a deterrent against the deliberate misclassification of content, which can often be a tactic used to bypass restrictions and send unauthorised or deceptive messages.

Moreover, TRAI has made it clear that repeated violations of these rules will result in even more severe consequences. If a sender continues to disregard the regulations and engages in repeated violations, their services will be suspended for an entire month.