Spam Calls and Messages Plague India

Spam messages and unsolicited calls have become a significant issue for mobile consumers in India, as telemarketers, financial services firms, and companies promoting various offers relentlessly target customers through these channels.
 
 
This surge in unwanted communications has led to a rise in phishing scams, fraudulent financial schemes, and data breaches, becoming more than just a daily nuisance for many users.

This new wave of fraudulent activity has prompted the regulator to take a more assertive approach, recognizing the urgent need to protect consumers from these malicious practices. This coordinated effort aims to address the vulnerabilities in the current system and provide consumers with greater protection against the increasing threat of fraud and scam communications.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has been actively working to curb these unwanted calls and messages. However, several challenges, such as a massive subscriber base, unauthorized telemarketing, a lack of effective technology, and an inefficient complaint mechanism, have hindered progress.
One of TRAI's recent initiatives involved urging telecom operators to implement a whitelisting mechanism since May of the previous year. This mechanism is designed to ensure that only approved URLs, APKs, OTT links, and call-back numbers are included in content templates.

TRAI sought “stronger financial disincentives for violation of regulatory provisions, and revised regulations for senders and telemarketers,” the regulator said in a press release.

Despite these directives, the necessary infrastructure has not been fully established, and there have been multiple instances where headers and templates have been misused. Unfortunately, telecom operators have not taken sufficient steps to address these issues or trace the origin of the problematic traffic.

While some efforts are being made to combat this problem, more aggressive and coordinated actions are required to effectively tackle the challenges posed by spam messages and calls. As it stands, a comprehensive solution still appears to be a distant goal.

Ms. S Mohini Ratna - Editor VARINDIA