Sep 2, 2024, New Delhi: Urging for a collaborative approach to tackle the problem of spam messages and calls, Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked the industry if a higher tariff should be introduced for calls and SMSs beyond a certain limit in a graded manner. The regulator feels that differential tariffs may make commercial communication using 10-digit numbers unviable for unregistered telemarketers.

At a meeting of Joint Committee of Regulators (JCoR) on August 27, TRAI discussed a new paper on measures to tighten norms around telemarketing communications. In the new discussion paper “Review of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018”, the regulator has mooted that telecom subscribers making over 50 calls or sending out even 50 SMS a day should be scrutinized as a potential pesky caller. The new proposal follows a TRAI directive to Telecom Service Provider (TSP) to disconnect all telecom resources of unregistered senders for making spam calls and to blacklist such senders.

The blacklist/ disconnection of service will be for a period of up to 2 years. Information regarding the blacklisting will have to be shared by the Originating Access Provider (OAP) with all access providers on the DLT platform within 24 hours so that they too can disconnect all telecom services to the blacklisted sender within next 24 hours. No telecom services are to be provided to the person during the blacklisted period, TRAI stated in a notification.

The directive to telecom operators follows soon after TRAI held a meeting with telecom operators, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and BSNL, asking them to strictly monitor and disconnect all telecom resources of businesses if they misuse their bulk connections and engage in spam calls. At a meeting between the regulator TRAI said the service providers should share such information amongst each other and must disconnect all telecom resources of any entity / person misusing bulk connections for spam calls and blacklist them.

“If any entity misuses its Session Initiating Protocol (SIP/Primary Rate Interface (PRI) lines for making spam calls, all the telecom resources of the entity shall be disconnected by its Telecom Service Provider (TSP) and the entity shall be blacklisted by it,” TRAI had said.

The regulator had highlighted the ongoing issue of spam from unregistered entities using PRI services for bulk calls. To combat this, TRAI has mandated that all telemarketers and enterprises migrate to a blockchain-based Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) platform.

Only registered principal entities will be allowed to send promotional messages. Experts note that unscrupulous agents exploit (PRI) services to obtain up to 32 connections at once. Using 10 or more PRI services can provide up to 320 numbers, which are often managed by robotic dialers that persistently call even after individual numbers are blocked. Authorities are working to identify and address the misuse of PRI services for spamming.

Meanwhile, TRAI timeline for implementation of the ban on delivering messages with unwhitelisted URLs/APKs is September 1, 2024. By October 31, 2024, telcos will have to complete technical implementation for message traceability through entity and telemarketer chain binding. With these measures, TRAI aims to significantly reduce the nuisance of spam calls and protect telecom consumers from unsolicited communications.

Even as the telecom regulator has given orders for curbing the menace of spam calls, LocalCircles has conducted a new nationwide survey to find out if there has been any relief to the mobile phone user since multiple Government departments have stepped in to find a solution to reduce this menace. The survey received over 71,000 responses from citizens located in 371 districts of India. 66% respondents were men while 34% respondents were women. 41% respondents were from tier 1, 25% from tier 2 and 34% respondents were from tier 3 and 4 districts.

95% mobile subscribers surveyed confirm receiving pesky calls every day; 77% get 3 or more such calls daily

The survey first asked mobile subscribers, “On average, how many unwanted, pesky, sales/ promotional or robo phone calls have you been receiving in the last 12 months on your mobile number every day?” Out of 18,173 who responded to the question only 2% stated that they “don’t get any such phone calls” and 3% did not give a clear answer. Of the remaining respondents, 18% stated that they get “1-2” pesky calls every day; 34% indicated that they get “3-5” calls every day; 20% stated that they get “6-10" calls every day; and 23% indicated that they get “over 10” spam calls every day. To sum up, 95% of mobile subscribers surveyed confirm receiving pesky calls every day; 77% get 3 or more such calls daily.

While regulators are attempting to curb pesky calls, the situation has gotten worse in the last 6 months as percentage of citizens receiving such calls daily has risen from 90% to 95%

In the last 12 months, the pesky call situation has gotten worse as the percentage of citizens receiving such calls daily has risen from 90% to 95%. What is more, the percentage of citizens receiving over 10 spam calls every day has risen from 3% to 23% in the last 6 months, the survey shows.

96% mobile subscribers surveyed who registered on Do not Disturb (DND) list say they have been getting pesky calls on their number in the last 12 months

Registering on the ‘Do not Disturb’ (DND) list was meant to protect mobile users from unwanted calls and messages. Unfortunately, it has not had the desired impact, according to various studies. The survey asked mobile phone users, “Have you been getting unwanted, pesky, sales/ promotional or robo phone calls on your mobile number in the last 12 months despite being registered on the ‘Do not Disturb’ (DND) list?” Out of 18,207 mobile phone users 96% stated “yes, still get them”. Only 2% of respondents stated “no, don’t get them” and 2% of respondents did not give a clear answer. In essence, 96% of mobile subscribers surveyed who registered on Do not Disturb (DND) list say they have been getting pesky calls on their number in the last 12 months.

Effectiveness of Do Not Disturb (DND) services also reduced as 96% confirmed receiving such calls despite being registered for DND as compared to 90% who said so 6 months back

88% mobile subscribers say in the last 12 months the highest number of pesky phone calls they have received have been from financial services and real estate sectors

From promotional offers for real estate, financial services, car servicing to ways to opportunities to make extra income, the pesky calls fall under many categories. The survey asked mobile phone users, “Under what category have you been getting the largest number of unwanted, pesky, sales/ promotional, robo phone calls on your mobile number in the last 12 months?” The question received 17,380 responses with 66% stating that they get maximum pesky phone calls from those “selling financial services”; 22% indicated those “selling real estate”; 4% of those “offering job/ earnings”; 1% of those “providing services like RO repair, spa, beauty, etc.;” and 4% of respondents indicated “other categories” not listed. In addition, 3% of respondents stated that the question is “not applicable (don’t get any such phone calls”. To sum up, 88% of mobile subscribers say in the last 12 months the highest number of pesky phone calls they have received have been from financial services and real estate sectors.

Percentage of mobile subscribers who received most pesky calls from financial services sector has risen from 54% to 66% in the last 6 months; Pesky calls from real estate sellers has stood flat with 22% getting such calls

The percentage of mobile subscribers who have been receiving most pesky calls from financial services sector has risen from 54% to 66% in the last 6 months while those who stated “not applicable (don’t get any such phone calls” has marginally from 2% to 3%. None of those surveyed stated problems with those “providing healthcare/ pathology services” which was a problem faced by 7% of respondents 6 months back.

66% mobile subscribers say they get majority of the pesky phone calls from different mobile numbers that belong to individuals while 18% say they come from mobile numbers belonging to companies/brands

If you own a vehicle or your health insurance renewal is due or you are seeking a job or looking to buy some property through online portals, the number of pesky calls you receive every day will go up manifold. The survey asked mobile phone users, “How have you been receiving majority of these unwanted, pesky, sales/ promotional or robo phone calls on your mobile in the last 12 months?” The question received 17,976 responses with 66% indicating that they receive pesky calls “from different mobile numbers that seem to belong to individuals”; 18% of respondents indicated that the calls come “from different mobile numbers that seem to belong to companies / brands”; 11% of respondents stated “from a centralized company land line number”; 3% indicated “from a centralized company toll free number” and 2% of respondents did not give a clear answer. To sum up, 66% of mobile subscribers surveyed say they get majority of the pesky phone calls from different mobile numbers that belong to individuals while 18% say they come from mobile numbers belonging to companies/brands.

With regulators putting more restrictions on pesky calls by brands/companies, 66% mobile subscribers are getting such calls from personal numbers of people as opposed to 48% just 6 months back

Apart from the fact that 66% of mobile subscribers surveyed are getting pesky calls from personal numbers of people as opposed to 48% just 6 months back, the percentage of those getting such calls from a centralized company landline number has risen to 11% as against 7% six months back while those from different mobile numbers that seem to belong to companies / brands has dipped from 36% in the previous study to 18% currently.

In summary, the new survey after a gap of 6 months shows the regulators and telecom companies have not been very effective in curbing pesky calls as 95% of mobile subscribers surveyed confirm receiving pesky calls every day. What is more, 77% get 3 or more such calls daily. While regulators are attempting to curb pesky calls, the situation has got worse in the last 6 months as the percentage of citizens receiving such calls daily has risen from 90% to 95%. In fact, the survey shows that 96% mobile subscribers who registered on Do not Disturb (DND) list have been getting pesky calls on their number in the last 12 months. A comparison with the previous survey by LocalCircles shows that effectiveness of Do Not Disturb (DND) services has reduced as 96% confirmed receiving such calls despite being registered for DND as compared to 90% who said so 6 months back. The main culprit remains the financial sector as 88% of mobile subscribers say in the last 12 months the highest number of pesky calls, they have received has been from them, followed by real estate sector. The percentage of mobile subscribers who received most pesky calls from the financial services sector has risen from 54% to 66% in the last 6 months while those from real estate sellers have stood flat with 22% getting such calls. Even as TRAI has stepped in again to curb misuse of bulk connections by various entities, the new survey has revealed that 66% mobile subscribers get majority of the pesky phone calls from different mobile numbers that belong to individuals while 18% say they come from mobile numbers belonging to companies/brands. When compared to the scenario 6 months ago, the survey shows that as against 48% of respondents getting pesky calls from personal numbers currently 66% mobile subscribers surveyed admitted to getting such calls from personal numbers.

LocalCircles View

Feedback from mobile subscribers indicates that many companies/brands are outsourcing lead generation on contract and these contractors are making calls using their personal numbers instead of company numbers. If the brand they are representing/generating leads for is also held accountable, it may reduce pesky calling to some extent. However, a better solution will come about if the regulator directs the telecom operators to immediately enable an option for subscribers to mark a caller as a pesky or spam caller. If the flags against a caller (number) exceed a particular threshold, the caller’s number should be suspended for calling for a period, the information marked against their Aadhaar and shared with a centralized database through which other operators have access to it. After a pre-defined number of complaint event threshold are reached against a caller, their number may be disabled permanently, and they may be blacklisted at the Aadhaar level thereby ensuring that no operator issues a SIM to them. In view of the survey findings, LocalCircles hopes that the regulator will rethink its recent proposal of differential tariffs as it will likely have no or very limited impact in reducing pesky calls.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 71,000 responses from citizens located in 371 districts of India. 66% respondents were men while 34% respondents were women. 41% respondents were from tier 1, 25% from tier 2 and 34% respondents were from tier 3 and 4 districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.