Govt to tighten rules against spam calls: Trai Chief

New Delhi: The government on Wednesday said the Centre will review and tighten regulations to curb unwanted calls, according to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chief Anil Kumar Lahoti. Crackdown on unwanted calls is high on the regulator’s agenda, and it has toughened its stance on the issue amid growing consumer complaints about unsolicited communications from unauthorised telemarketers. “We have had an interaction with service providers on unwanted calls and that is the next thing on our table. We will work seriously. We will plug all the loopholes that people find in the existing regulations to tighten (controls on) the problem of unwanted calls,” Lahoti said on the sidelines of India SatCom 2024 organised by Broadband India Forum (BIF).

Trai on Tuesday held a meeting and conveyed a strong message to service providers and their telemarketers to take effective measures to curb mass communications using voice calls. As part of the crackdown, the regulator has asked all stakeholders to take proactive measures, especially access telecom service providers and their delivery telemarketers.

The immediate measures sought include implementation of technical solutions for traceability and prevention of mass calls by corporate customers using 10-digit numbers. Asked about the increasing cases of call-related fraud and scams and the proposed measures, Lahoti said a joint committee of regulators is working collectively to address the issue.

“Trai’s role is to check unwanted calls. When it is a fraudster or a scammer… It also becomes a law enforcement issue where the home ministry and the financial sector regulator also play a role,” the Trai chief said.

Asked whether increasing criminal liability could serve as an effective deterrent, he said: “We will review the regulations to make them stronger and stricter in controlling spam or scams that fall within the scope of the law,” he said.