New Delhi. The government has taken an important step to control spam calls and has issued a warning to Access Service Providers (ASP). In this matter, recently the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) held an important meeting with industry stakeholders. In this meeting, various measures were discussed for effective control of spam calls and the need to take concrete steps to solve the problem was emphasized.
Misuse of headers and content templates
According to the government, currently headers and content templates are being used incorrectly, which has worsened the problem of spam calls. This system is working without the information of the correct entity, which is a matter of concern. The government has advised access service providers to be vigilant in this direction and understand the seriousness of this problem. It was also discussed in the meeting that access service providers and delivery telemarketers will have to find ways to trace and identify those who send such messages.
Guidelines for Bulk Communication
TRAI has issued new guidelines regarding bulk communication. Enterprise business customers are required to use Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) especially for services like promotional robotic calls, auto-dialer calls, and pre-recorded calls. This technology will help in tracking calls and messages and will be helpful in controlling the problem of spam calls.
Searching for technical solutions
TRAI has directed all stakeholders, especially service access providers and delivery telemarketers, to find technical solutions to trace bulk calling. Effective technical measures are needed to monitor bulk calls using 10-digit numbers made through PRI/SIP. The central government last month gave additional 15 days to all stakeholders to provide feedback on draft guidelines by TRAI to curb fraudulent calls. The Consumer Affairs Department has also received several suggestions regarding spam calls, which are being investigated.
It has been decided in the meeting that the industry should continue to cooperate with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), TRAI and Department of Consumer Affairs (DoCA) to control spam calls and messages. This will effectively control the problem of spam calls. Recently, the Department of Telecommunications has introduced a new 160 number series for telemarketers of the banking and insurance sector. Now telemarketers associated with these sectors will have to use this new number series for their telemarketing calls, which will curb financial fraud.
