6 days ago

India Orders Telecom Action Against AI-Flagged Spam Callers

India’s telecom regulator has issued new rules to fight spam calls.

Phone companies must act when their AI systems identify a likely spammer, even if nobody complains.

They must share information and check whether the same sender controls other phone connections.

If at least five caller identities are linked to the sender within 10 days, action can be taken.

A first violation can stop outgoing calls for 15 days.

Later violations can disconnect the sender’s telecom resources for one year and place the sender on a blacklist.

Call-management apps such as Truecaller cannot tag or block certain government-designated number series.

People can still block or filter calls themselves, while new rules also cover automated business calls and promotional-message preferences.

Key facts

Regulator: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)
Information-sharing deadline: The receiving operator must share details of an AI-flagged suspected spam call within two hours.
KYC identification deadline: The originating access provider must identify and share the sender’s unique KYC identifiers within one business day.
First violation: Outgoing services for all of the sender’s telecom resources can be barred for 15 days.
Subsequent violations: All telecom resources can be disconnected for one year, with the sender blacklisted and denied new resources.
A2P call charge: A terminating access provider may charge the originating access provider up to Rs. 0.05 per minute.
Promotional-call blocking: Subscribers can text BLOCK PROMO to 1909 to block promotional communications across categories.

thehindubusinessline.com · 6 days ago