Trai Orders Telecom Firms To Act Against AI-Flagged Spammers Without Consumer Complaints

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recently issued new regulations that require telecom operators to take action against suspected spam callers identified through artificial intelligence and machine learning systems, even without consumer complaints. These stricter measures are part of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026.

Telecom companies must share details of incoming calls flagged as "suspected spam" by their AI systems with the originating access provider within two hours. The originating operator then has one business day to identify the sender using KYC details and share the information with other telecom companies. Operators must also investigate if the suspected spammer has used other connections on their networks in the past 10 days; five or more such instances would trigger action against the sender.

The first violation results in the blocking of all outgoing services linked to the sender's telecom resources for 15 days, and repeated violations can lead to one-year disconnections and blacklisting. Additionally, call management applications will be prohibited from tagging, blocking, or filtering calls from designated number series, although consumers retain the right to block or filter calls on their personal devices.

The aim of these changes is to bolster the telecom sector's ability to combat spam calls through technology-driven detection and swift action against repeat offenders.