TRAI directs telecom operators, telemarketers to apply new SMS rules by April 1

When the regulation was implemented earlier this month, it caused inconvenience to the general public as there was a mass failure in generating SMSes and OTPs.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed telecom operators to re-activate SMS checking filters beginning April 1 and block traffic that does not comply with the regulatory standards. The TRAI in a letter to the telemarketers as seen by ET wrote, “As sufficient opportunity has been given to the principal entities to comply with the regulatory requirements, the consumers cannot be deprived of the benefits of the regulatory provisions. Accordingly, it has been decided that from April 1, 2021, any message failing in the scrubbing due to non-compliance of regulatory requirements will be rejected.” TRAI reportedly held a meeting with telecom operators and over 50 telemarketing firms across the country to discuss the hurdles faced by business entities to onboard the complex blockchain-based SMS filtering system. The principal entities have to apply the SMS rules which involve SMS scrubbing. The process involves matching SMS content with a pre-registered template submitted by every principal entity that sends commercial SMS to its customers.