Download the original sources: [ Press Release | Finalised Amendments ]
On September 18, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) finalised the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026, addressing spam-related issues under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018, the regulatory framework governing spam calls and messages in India.
Among other things, the finalised changes will stop call-management apps like Truecaller from filtering, tagging or blocking calls from TRAI-designated commercial number series. They also put a price on automated bulk calls and give consumers a right to appeal against wrongly closed spam-related complaints.
The amendments follow a draft TRAI put out for consultation on March 13. Comments closed on April 19, followed by counter-comments on May 4. TRAI stated that it held an open house discussion on June 3.
Here are the finalised key changes:
- Call-management apps cannot tag, block or filter calls from the 140xx, 1600xx and 1601xx series. They must also share spam reports filed by users with the DLT platform rather than keeping them in-app. The rules also prevent apps like Truecaller from blocking spam calls from designated commercial number series.
- AI/ML-enabled spam flagging and data sharing is mandatory: A new Regulation 21A requires the telecom service provider at the receiving end to flag a suspected spam-verified network number transmitting the call and share the information with the sending TSP within two hours.
- A2P (Application-to-Person) calls are now priced at the commercial SMS rate: Senders must pre-declare A2P usage to their operator, and terminating operators can charge originating operators up to 5 paise a minute. This pricing is similar to the existing charge on commercial SMS.
- Consumers get a formal appeal mechanism for wrongly closed or unaddressed UCC complaints, with a 15-day window to appeal and a 15-day window for telcos to respond. However, the record-retention period for complaints has been cut to two years, down from the three years TRAI had proposed in the earlier draft.
- Businesses can collect consent outside TRAI’s framework: This allows businesses to register consent collected outside TRAI’s Consent Registration Framework, as long as it is subsequently verified and uploaded.
- Misuse of headers and content templates must be suspended within six hours of an operator noticing it, with a sender notified within 48 hours; telemarketers found complicit face a year-long disconnection and blacklisting.
Ban on blanket blocking of spam by Truecaller stays, but TRAI tones down intermediary liability
The amended regulations retain the core prohibition MediaNama flagged in March as a potential threat to Truecaller’s safe harbour. No call-management app “that offers users a mechanism to report any UCC/spam shall tag, block or filter incoming calls originating from any number series designated by the Authority or the Central Government for commercial and government communications… or restrict or facilitate blanket tagging of such calls as spam.”
Apps also cannot let users report calls as “spam” or “junk” unless the report is simultaneously routed to the DLT platform maintained by access providers. This addresses what TRAI’s analysis calls a gap where crowd-sourced spam reports on apps like Truecaller never reach the regulatory system.
Where the final text notably differs from the draft is in the enforcement clause. TRAI’s draft, as MediaNama had reported, explicitly invoked the IT Act and Rule 7 of the IT Rules, 2021. It warned that a non-compliant call-management app’s “IT intermediary shall be liable for losing exemption from liability of intermediary under IT Act 2000”.
This was the Section 79 safe-harbour hook that drew objections from IAMAI as regulatory overreach into a domain outside TRAI’s statutory remit. The notified Regulation 34A(3) drops that specific language, stating only that “the Authority may initiate action under the applicable laws for non-compliance”. It also includes a proviso guaranteeing the entity a chance to respond before any order is passed.
However, TRAI’s explanatory memorandum still refers to Rule 7 of the IT Rules as the underlying enforcement mechanism available to it under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act. Therefore, the legal pathway IAMAI objected to has not disappeared, but the regulation’s operative text no longer spells it out as explicitly as the draft did.
TRAI’s July clarification on the 1600 and 140 series — issued after it sought designation as an “authorised agency” under the IT Act to act against apps like Truecaller, Hiya and Whoscall — is folded into this framework. 1600-series calls cannot be tagged, blocked or filtered at all, while 140-series calls can only be blocked if the customer has opted out of that sector’s calls through the DND registry.
AI flagging is meant to direct investigations, not direct regulatory action: The notified regulations change the complaint threshold for enforcement from five unique complaints in 10 days to three, but only if the sender’s network details were also flagged by the AI system in the same period.
If a sender has five or more spam flags within 10 days, the originating service provider must re-verify the sender’s KYC details, conduct a physical verification and disconnect the sender if misuse continues.
Additionally, TRAI’s explanatory memorandum clarifies that AI-based flagging alone is not enough for regulatory action. Flags are meant to trigger investigations or support complaints, addressing concerns about the lack of error-rate benchmarks for telco AI systems. TRAI also added a mechanism allowing flagged senders to appeal and request unflagging, which several stakeholders had requested.
Why a 15-day appeal window makes sense
According to TRAI’s explanatory memorandum, there are reasons why the appeal mechanism might be necessary. Between January and June 2026, access providers closed about 80% of spam-related complaints against registered telemarketers as invalid and about 31% of complaints against unregistered telemarketers. As MediaNama had reported on the draft appeal proposal, TRAI can also pull call-detail records to audit these closures.
To speed up the process of closing complaints, telecom access providers must forward appeals received at the terminating end to the appellate authority at the originating end within one business day. Under the new guidelines, service operators have to store the appeal history for two years.
Appeals can be filed through any mode already available for lodging a UCC complaint, such as TRAI’s DND app, an operator’s app or portal, or by calling or texting 1909. 1909 is the official toll-free short code in India used to register for the Do Not Disturb (DND) service.
Explicit recorded consent is now mandatory
The amended definition of “Explicit Consent” now covers consent “verified directly from the Recipient in a robust and verifiable manner and recorded by Consent Registrar”, or “obtained by the Sender through any verifiable means before or outside the Consent Registration Function framework, and subsequently registered in the Consent Register.”
This recognition of legacy consent is something MediaNama had flagged as potentially falling short of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act’s consent standard, since the notified text still does not define what counts as “verifiable means” or set an age limit on how old such consent can be.
The new regulations also allow TRAI to mandate “essential conditions” that access providers must include in their agreements with senders and telemarketers.
For header misuse, suspend accounts for one year: Access providers must suspend a misused header or template “immediately… but not beyond six hours” of noticing the misuse and issue a notice to the registered sender within 48 hours. Where a telemarketer is found to be the culprit or an accomplice, all its telecom resources are to be disconnected across every access provider for a year, with blacklisting for the same period.
These regulations have not yet been notified. Once they are officially notified, the following enforcement timelines will apply:
After 30 days:
- AI/ML-based UCC detection
- Pre-declaration requirement for A2P calls
- Blanket bans on call-management apps like Truecaller
- Consumer appeal mechanism for UCC complaints
- Recognition of legacy consent
- Suspension of accounts for header or content-template misuse
After 60 days:
- A2P termination charge of up to 5 paise per minute, similar to the charge on commercial SMS
- VNO access to the DLT platform through a digital interface
- Inquiry-based contact for commercial communications, limited to a seven-day window
- Essential conditions for agreements between access providers, senders and telemarketers
After 90 days:
- Lowered complaint threshold: TRAI can take action if there are three or more complaints, instead of five, and if the network number is AI-flagged in the same 10-day window
- Suspension of accounts for incorrect categorisation of content templates
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