Trai plans extra fee, penalty on operators allowing robocalls, spam messages

The telecom regulator has proposed additional charges and penalties on operators that allow bulk spam calls and messages, as the menace has exploded with the rise of automation.

A 5 paise per minute termination charge will have to be paid by the operator from whose network robocalls originate—from numbers other than 1400 or 1600 series—to the carrier which receives such communication, according to the proposal released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Friday.

No termination charge is levied on domestic voice calls in India currently.

It also proposed financial disincentives or penalties for operators who improperly register or allow the use of wrong SMS headers and content templates for promotional SMSes.

To be sure, current regulations already provide for a termination charge of up to 5 paise as a deterrent for each commercial SMS.

The regulator also seeks faster action against suspected spammers using artificial intelligence (AI)-based detection systems.

Trai’s move is aimed at tightening accountability and discouraging the misuse of regular voice lines for mass spam calling.

“The bulk callers take advantage of cheaper routes meant for normal person-to-person (P2P) calls, and misuse them for unsolicited A2P (application-to-person or automated) calling,” Trai said in a consultation on draft Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026. It has invited comments by 12 April.

“Accordingly, it felt necessary to have a deterrent in the form of termination charge, since A2P calls are made in bulk at the OAP (originating access provider) end and passed onto the network of the TAP (terminating access provider),” the regulator said.

The Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR) 2018 allow the regulator to impose penalties of up to ₹10 lakh per instance on operators for failure to curb spam.

While Trai noted technical challenges operators face in differentiating robotic calls from normal calls, it proposed that bulk callers must pre-declare their use of A2P calling. “In case the bulk caller fails to declare use of A2P calling, all such calls shall be treated as UCC (unsolicited commercial communication) and action shall be taken by the access providers as per the regulatory provisions,” Trai said.

The termination charges for such A2P calls will be exempted if originated at the direction of the central and state governments, constitutional bodies, Trai or any agency authorized by the authority, in the larger public interest.

The regulator wants the telecom companies to strengthen the use of AI/ML-based systems to detect spam calls and messages. So far, operators use AI to warn customers about suspected spam, but now they must also take regulatory action against senders when AI detects possible spamming activity, Trai said.

It has been proposed that the telecom operator must re-verify the sender’s know-your-customer (KYC) documents and, if the activity continues, conduct physical verification of the sender. If the AI system has flagged a sender as suspected spam in the last 10 days, action can now start with just three customer complaints (against five needed earlier), allowing faster action against spam senders.

For enhancing customer complaint and appeal mechanisms, Trai has proposed that customers dissatisfied with how their spam complaint was resolved can now appeal to an Appellate Authority within 15 days. Operators are required to designate a senior management employee as the Appellate Authority, who must resolve appeals within 15 days, Trai said.