TRAI for telephone number clearinghouse to protect subscribers from telecallers

Proposes Truecaller-like white label App for bundling with telecoms Apps 

India’s telecom watchdog, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), wants to exercise greater control on who can access telephone numbers by setting up a central depository or database of mobile numbers.   

Still in the consultative stage, the proposal from TRAI Chairman R S Sharma today in the context of regulating Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) by tele marketers, marketing agencies and others will come as an assurance for subscribers worried about the safety of their data particularly in the wake of mandatory linking of Aadhar to mobile numbers.

So much so, the regulator has also proposed integrating the TRAI DNA App API with mobile operator Apps to give subscribers more control over who can call or message them.

Unsolicited marketing calls have reached a menacing proportion not just intruding into subscribers’ personal privacy but also threatening data privacy

The TRAI chairman was participating in an open house to discuss UCC by tele marketers, marketing agencies and others.

Unsolicited marketing calls have reached a menacing proportion not just intruding into subscribers’ personal privacy but also threatening data privacy in the wake of robocalls, silent calls and fraudulent calls and SMS for fisching and filching user data, the TRAI noted in a consultation paper released earlier.

The guidelines for this would be ready by January 15, the TRAI Chairman said later.

The present mechanism does not have necessary ways and means to protect the data that is made available to registered telemarketers, the regulator observed adding that there is a risk of this data falling into hands of unscrupulous elements with multiple copies of consumer numbers floating around.

Currently, mobile phone users have the option of registering for the Do not disturb (DND) service through various channels. However, it is observed that despite registering for DND marketing calls and SMSs are a norm with unregistered telemarketers continuing to call users.

That is because even though registration of telemarketers with TRAI is mandatory there are thousands who do not. For instance, as against just 11,350 registered telemarketers, the TRAI had sent notices to upwards of 2,86,000 unregistered telemarketers between 2001 and 2013 based on complaints from subscribers. As of October 2016, a whopping 23.54 subscribers had submitted their numbers in the DND registry.

The TRAI notes that earlier these calls and messages were simply annoying, but they have become a threat with scamsters trying to steal the identify or mislead the target for making some investments. 

The SEBI and RBI have also approached the TRAI for help in controlling such misuse recently.  

Tracing such miscreants is also a big issue as sometimes they acquire an SMS header which resembles well-known entities in the market to misguide the recipient into believing that the advice or tips come from experts or authorized sources, it observed.

The logic is that putting all telephone numbers in a central depository that which allows telemarketers and others the facility to communicate only with subscribes who agree for such messaging without divulging their own number, would safeguard consumer data.  

Moreover, if a white label App offered by TRAI or even an API supplied by it to telecom operators for integration with their own Apps, would have a higher credibility and trust from subscribers.

(This article first appears on Veooz Publishing Platform)