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Tag: PFRDA

  • TRAI dials up a united front as regulators join forces to fight digital spam

    TRAI dials up a united front as regulators join forces to fight digital spam

    MUMBAI: If spam calls and scam messages are the villains of our digital age, India’s top regulators are teaming up like superheroes. On 25 April 2025, TRAI hosted a meeting of the Joint Committee of Regulators (JCoR) at its New Delhi headquarters, bringing together heavyweights from RBI, IRDAI, PFRDA, SEBI, MoCA, MeitY, and special invitees from DoT and MHA to chart a stronger, cross-sector response to unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) and fraudulent activities.

    Opening the session, TRAI Chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti stressed the urgent need for a collaborative approach. Highlighting the mounting threat to citizens, particularly senior citizens, Lahoti praised the JCoR’s progress but warned that “the challenges ahead demand even greater synergy and vigilance.”

    Key issues topping the agenda included the nationwide rollout of 1600 series numbers for transactional and service calls from government and financial entities. Members agreed to push for swift onboarding within their respective sectors and monitor progress closely. The Council of Administered Telecommunications (CoAT) also presented a solution offering a unified 1600-series CLI for seamless call identification across networks.

    Another major move discussed was the onboarding of commercial communication senders onto the Digital Consent Acquisition (DCA) platform. Regulators pledged to work with principal entities to ensure compliance, aiming to empower consumers with more control over who contacts them.

    Fraudulent communications and the rise of “digital arrest” scams were a serious point of concern. I4C proposed measures including deletion of unused SMS headers, swift action on fraudulent SMS identifiers, and blocking of mobile numbers and IMEIs used for scam messages. Members pledged to develop clear modalities for rapid action.

    Emerging threats from OTT and Rich Communication Services (RCS) platforms also grabbed attention. Recognising that spammers are shifting to newer communication channels, the committee decided that MeitY would engage with stakeholders to roll out spam mitigation strategies mirroring those in traditional telecom.

    The session closed on a determined note, with JCoR members agreeing to intensify collaboration across sectors. The goal? A safer, more secure digital communication ecosystem for India’s consumers, one where fraudsters find it harder to hide and trust travels faster than spam.

  • TRAI convenes meeting of Joint Committee of Regulators (JCoR)

    TRAI convenes meeting of Joint Committee of Regulators (JCoR)

    Mumbai – TRAI convened a meeting of the Joint Committee of Regulators (JCoR) on 27 August 2024, at its headquarters in New Delhi. Members  of the JCoR from IRDAl, PFRDA, RBI, SEBI, MoCA, MeitY, and TIAI attended the meeting. Additionally, DoT and MHA representatives joined as special guests. The JCoR serves as a collaborative platform to examine regulatory implications in the digital age and work collaboratively on regulatory frameworks.

    In his address, TRAI chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti stressed the need for a joint effort to tackle the problem of spam messages and calls. He urged the regulators to discuss and enable implementation of (i) whitelisting of URLs, APKs, O’IT links and call back numbers to be sent in SMS, (ii) migration of existing telemarketers making promotional calls to 140 series on DLT platform, and (iii) declaration of entire chain of telemarketers engaged by them for PE-TM chain binding.

    The meeting explored potential collaborative efforts and strategies to address UCC and fraud through telecom resources. The key issues discussed are as given below-

    “Role of Entities in Whitelisting of URLs, APKs, OTF links, and call back numbers in the content templates and ensuring the traceability of all the messages from senders to recipients – Many instances of misuse of headers and templates have been observed. Fraud takes place through the transmission of malicious links using the variable parts of the messages. In case of misuse of headers and content templates, it is difficult to find the entity that pushed the traffic. Therefore, mandatory whitelisting of URLs, APKs, O’Vl’ links, or call back numbers, and declaration of the entire chain of telemarketers engaged by them for PE-TM chain binding as per the timelines fixed by TRAI’s latest Directions needs to be enforced.

    “Addressing the issue of entities using PRI/ SIP channels for making unsolicited calls – Many business entities make commercial voice calls using SIP/ PRI lines with hundreds of indicators in violation of TRAI’s regulations. These entities should be migrated to the designated 140 series for making promotional calls. Also, there is an urgent need to take firm action, without further delay, on spammers who are using PRI/ SIP/ bulk connections for making promotional voice calls! Robo calls! Pre-recorded calls. 

    “Leveraging the DCA system established by digital service providers to obtain digital consent from consumers – DCA system will be of great value to the entities, not only for messaging services, but also for voice calls. It permits the delivery of messages and calls to the recipients despite their DND preference. The technical infrastructure for DCA is now in place. Regulators were requested to ask the entities under their jurisdiction to start using this facility in a time bound manner.

    “Use of 160 series by the Entities for making service and transactional calls for easy identification by the consumers – 160 series has been allocated exclusively for Service and Transactional Calls. A Pilot Study was commissioned by TRAT and RBI to determine the technical feasibility of various options, the outcome of the same was discussed. Enhancing information exchange among regulators to control frauds using telecom resources – Emphasis was given to exchange information available with various regulators on their platforms and for its effective utilisation to control frauds.

    By addressing these issues collectively, the JCoR aims to protect consumers from the harms of spam and fraud while ensuring a more secure and efficient telecom ecosystem.