Telecom companies have raised concerns over the new rules of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to come into effect from November 1. Under the new rule, TRAI has made traceability of transactional and service messages sent by banks, e-commerce platforms, and other financial institutions mandatory.
Telecom companies state that if any disturbance occurs in the message-sending chain, they will, consequently, block the message before it reaches customers. Furthermore, they also mention that many key institutions (PEs) and telemarketers are not yet ready to comply with these rules; as a result, this may disrupt the delivery of OTPs and other important messages.
COAI approached TRAI to relax the traceability requirement
The Economic Times quoted officials in a report that the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has approached TRAI to relax the implementation of traceability requirements. COAI includes Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea.
Companies demanded two months’ time
Telecom companies told TRAI that their systems are ready to comply with the new rules that will come into effect from November 1. However, many telemarketers and major institutions (PEs) need more time for the necessary technical updates. The institutions have requested an extension of the two-month deadline to finalize their preparations.
Every day, people send about 1.5 to 1.7 billion commercial messages in the country
Every day in India, people send about 1.5 to 1.7 billion commercial messages. These new rules may lead to delays in message delivery and create various problems. Telecom companies have proposed to implement this rule step-by-step.
Companies will implement the rules in ‘logger mode’ starting November 1. If a message encounters a hash mismatch or registration problem, it won’t be blocked. This approach minimizes disruptions and allows teams to take necessary steps to resolve issues. Telecom companies have promised that they will completely shift to ‘blocking mode’ by December 1.
