New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has rolled out a pilot project to digitally verify consumer consent for commercial communication to address the persistent issue of spam calls. The first phase prioritises banks, considering the high volume of complaints linked to financial fraud through unsolicited calls.
TRAI’s latest action follows investigations revealing that many spam complaints stem from business entities with which consumers had prior transactions. These entities often claim to have the customer’s consent to send marketing messages or calls.
Under the existing Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018, such communication is permitted even if the consumer is on the Do Not Disturb (DND) list, provided explicit consent has been given.
However, TRAI noted that in several cases, consent was obtained through unverifiable or offline channels, making validation difficult. Some users even alleged that their data was shared or acquired without consent, raising concerns around data security and informed consent.
Digital Consent Registry: Pilot With Banks Underway
To address these gaps, TRAI is testing a Digital Consent Management framework under a Regulatory Sandbox model. The pilot involves collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and select banks. On 13 June, TRAI issued a directive to all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), mandating their participation in the pilot project to operationalise the digital consent registry.
The consent registry, once implemented, will require entities to acquire consumer permission digitally and record it in a secure, interoperable system managed by TSPs. This allows for real-time verification when commercial messages are delivered.
The pilot focuses first on the banking sector due to its vulnerability to fraud via spam communications. TRAI aims to test the technical, operational, and regulatory feasibility of the system before scaling it across other sectors.
