Telecoms regulator TRAI cracked down on unauthorized, annoying commercial messages from telemarketers on Thursday as it issued instructions to telecom operators to act quickly to stop the abuse of headers and message templates.
To stop such abuse and curb unwanted messages, the regulator has ordered access service providers (telecom operators) to re-verify all registered headers and message templates on the Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform and remove all unverified headers and message templates within 30 days and 60 days to block. or.
The move is expected to bring some relief to mobile users who are frustrated by a barrage of unauthorized, annoying advertising messages.
telecom Operators have also been asked to ensure that temporary headers are deactivated immediately after the set time period has expired.
“…In order to eliminate confusion between the recipients of messages and to prevent their misuse, no look-alike headers (headers that are similar due to the combination of lowercase or uppercase letters) shall not be registered by access providers in names of different principal entities,” TRAI called.
To curb messages from unauthorized or unregistered telemarketers, including telemarketers using phone numbers, telecom operators have been instructed to “prohibit all telemarketers not registered on the DLT platform from deleting message templates and delivering messages to recipients via the access provider’s network”.
Telcos must “ensure that commercial messages are not being delivered by unregistered telemarketers or telemarketers using telephone numbers (10-digit numbers)”. Telecom operators have been instructed to take action against all misleading telemarketers in accordance with established regulations and to take action in accordance with relevant laws.
“The access service provider also shares details of such telemarketers with other access providers, who in turn prevent these companies from sending commercial communications of any kind over their networks,” TRAI said.
TRAI has asked all telecom providers to comply with their instructions within 30 days.
“To ensure that all promotional messages are sent via registered telemarketers (RTMs) using approved headers and message templates on the Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) platform and to stop abuse of headers and message templates, TRAI has two separate directives issued by Access Service Providers under TCCCPR-2018,” the regulator said in a statement.
The move came after regulators discovered that principal companies (PEs) headers and message templates were being abused by some telemarketers. Simply put, major companies, say banks, generate content and engage telemarketers to target customers.
Telcos would also need to ensure that content variables in message templates do not have flexibility to insert unwanted content. Bodies involved in the transmission of messages should be clearly identifiable and, if necessary, traceable, according to TRAI.
“TRAI’s guidance is a much-needed push for all participants in the DLT ecosystem to eliminate the threat of inactive or unverified headers/templates that Tanla has long advocated,” D Uday Reddy, Tanla’s Founder, Chairman and CEO Platforms said in a statement.
Out of almost 5 million templates currently registered in the DLT, almost 80 percent are inactive for a period of six months, giving infiltrators an opportunity to abuse the templates.
“Variable elements in templates are also abused to insert inappropriate content into the text messages. Adhering to TRAI guidelines will certainly bring much-needed discipline and help organizations manage their DLT assets,” said Reddy.
