TRAI has given a big relief to crores of mobile users of the country by extending the deadline to implement the new rules to stop fake SMS. Earlier the telecom regulator was going to implement it from 1 September 2024. On the demand of access service providers and other stakeholders, the regulator has decided to extend this deadline. Recently, TRAI had given a deadline till 31 August 2024 to telecom service providers and telemarketers to whitelist messages containing URL, APK and OTT links to stop fake SMS and calls.

Deadline extended

With the implementation of the new rules of the Department of Telecommunications, messages and calls with fake links can be curbed. However, till now many telemarketers have not whitelisted their message templates, due to which after the implementation of the new rule, users could have difficulty in receiving messages with OTP and there would have been trouble in making online payments etc. In view of the problems faced by the users, the telecom regulator has now extended its deadline by 1 month i.e. 30 days. Now these rules will come into effect from October 1, 2024.

TRAI had held a meeting with telecom operators, telemarketers and other stakeholders on August 8 earlier this month, in which guidelines were issued regarding marketing messages and calls.

TRAI gave strict orders

TRAI had said in its directive that if an entity misuses its SIP/PRI lines to make spam calls, all telecom resources of the entity will be disconnected by its telecom service provider (TSP) and the entity will be blacklisted.

This information will be shared by the telecom service provider (TSP) with all other TSPs, who, in turn, will disconnect all telecom resources given to that entity and blacklist it for a period of up to two years. No new telecom resources will be allocated to it by any TSP during the period of blacklisting.

From September 1, 2024, no SMS will be allowed to be delivered that contains spam URLs/APK links that are not included in the whitelist. TRAI has now extended this deadline by 30 days. That is, from October 1, messages without whitelisting will not be received by users. Apart from this, the regulator has given telecom service providers time till October 31, 2024 to implement chain binding between the entity and the telemarketer so that such message flow can be traced.