Disconnect resources of entity caught engaging in spam activities: TRAI

NEW DELHI: In a bid to combat the rising menace of spam calls in the country, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) directed telecom service providers (TSPs) on Thursday to disconnect the telecom resources of any entity caught engaging in spam activities.

Under the new directive, entities found exploiting their SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) or PRI (Primary Rate Interface) lines for spam calls will be blacklisted by their TSP, and this information will be shared with other telecom operators to ensure comprehensive blacklisting across the industry up to two years. During this blacklisting period, no new telecom resources will be allocated to the entity by any TSP.

The decision was made during a meeting held on Thursday with the chief regulatory officers of Airtel, BSNL, Quadrant Televentures Limited (QTL), Reliance Jio, Tata Teleservices Limited, Vodafone Idea Limited, and V-CON Mobile & Infra Private Limited. However, TRAI noted that representatives from MTNL and Reliance Communications Limited were absent from the meeting.