Business EconomyPosted at: Sep 28 2026 9:57PM


TRAI tightens anti-spam rules; repeat offenders face one-year disconnection, AI-based detection to aid enforcement

Panchkula, Sept 28 (UNI) Telecom regulator TRAI has tightened its anti-spam framework, providing for suspension of outgoing services, one-year disconnection of telecom resources and blacklisting of repeat offenders, while bringing artificial intelligence-based detection into the enforcement mechanism against unsolicited commercial communications.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India notified the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026 on September 18, amending the 2018 regulations. The new rules apply across India and will come into force in phases — most provisions after 30 days, specified provisions after 60 days and amendments listed in the annexure after 90 days from publication in the Official Gazette.
The regulations seek to strengthen action against unsolicited commercial communications (UCC) by combining consumer complaints with intelligence generated by AI and machine-learning based spam-detection systems.
TRAI said data furnished by access providers showed that in April 2026, their AI systems flagged on average more than 25 crore calls and 1.6 crore SMS a day as suspected spam. The regulator said these systems had largely been used to alert subscribers and had not been effectively integrated into enforcement against UCC senders.
During the month, about 771 crore calls and 48 crore SMS were flagged as suspected spam, while consumers lodged 2,66,105 UCC complaints. Only 17,401 complaints met the existing threshold for regulatory action, covering 1,713 senders, according to TRAI's analysis.
Under the amended framework, regulatory intervention can be initiated at a lower complaint threshold where complaints are corroborated by AI-generated intelligence. If three or more unique recipients complain against a sender within 10 days, and any CLI allotted to that sender has also been identified or maintained as a "suspected high probability UCC CLI" by operators' AI systems during the same period, the case can trigger further action under the regulations.
TRAI's analysis showed that applying the three-complaint threshold would have brought 28,135 complaints and 6,762 senders within its ambit, substantially expanding the pool of cases potentially subject to investigation.
The regulator has, however, made clear that AI flagging alone will not result in punitive action. It said AI-generated intelligence, while a strong indicator of possible UCC activity, cannot be treated as conclusive evidence because false positives cannot be entirely ruled out. AI detection will instead be used to trigger investigation or corroborate consumer complaints.
The amended regulations also provide for tougher action where violations are established. In cases involving an unregistered telemarketer, a first established violation can result in outgoing services on all telecom resources allotted to the sender, including PRI/SIP trunks and SIMs, being barred for 15 days.
For subsequent violations, all telecom resources allotted to the sender can be disconnected across access providers for one year, irrespective of whether every such resource was actually used for the offending communications. The sender can also be blacklisted for one year, during which access providers cannot issue fresh telecom resources. Devices used for sending UCC can also be blocked across access providers for a year.
The amendments also formally bring automated voice communications within the framework by defining an Application-to-Person (A2P) call as one initiated by an application, software system or automated platform without direct human dialling. This includes auto-dialling, robo-calls and calls using pre-recorded or artificial voice technologies.
Senders using A2P calls will be required to declare in advance to their originating access provider the use of such calls and details such as the CLI ranges to be used. Calls made without the required prior declaration will be treated as UCC under the regulations.
TRAI has also strengthened safeguards against misuse of registered headers and content templates. The amended framework provides for suspension of misused headers or templates and further action following investigation.
Consumers will continue to be able to opt out of promotional commercial communications through 1909, either across all promotional categories or selectively for sectors such as banking and financial products, real estate, education, health, consumer goods and automobiles, communication and entertainment, tourism and leisure, and food and beverages. The general promotional block does not cover transactional, service or government communications.
The notification also clarifies that consent under the telecom commercial communication regulations does not exempt a sender from its obligations or liability under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
TRAI said the staggered implementation schedule takes into account the technical work required for implementing the amendments. Provisions relating to A2P-call declarations and certain other measures will come into force after 60 days, while specified provisions relating to appeals, corroboration of complaints with AI-flagged suspected UCC senders and related measures will take effect after 90 days. UNI KK CDS
Tags: #TRAI tightens anti-spam rules; repeat offenders face one-year disconnection# AI-based detection to aid enforcement
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