No record of telemarketers, all such data with telecom service providers, says TRAI: Report

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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has said it does not hold information related to any telemarketers in India, according to a report by MoneyLife.

In response to an RTI filed by the publication, the telecom regulatory body said all such data related to entities that come under the umbrella of the unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) ecosystem, including telemarketers, is with the respective telecom service providers.

This means that the TRAI has no data or information whatsoever with respect to spammers and fraudsters who gain access to information on mobile subscribers across the country.

The report notes that in its reply to the RTI, TRAI notes that "as per the new regulations, the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (6 of 2018), telecom service providers are fully responsible for registration of all entities of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) ecosystem, including telemarketers."

These are the same regulations under which, in 2018, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on spelt out new rules that mandate subscribers' consent for receiving such calls/ messages. It notified the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation, 2018, to curb the problem of unsolicited commercial communication, wherein it asked telecom operators to ensure that such communications take place only through registered senders.

According to a report by Quartz, on average, an Indian received 25.6 pesky calls a month in 2019, compared with 22.3 calls the previous year.

The data is based on incoming calls marked by users as spam on Truecaller between January 1, 2019, and October 30, 2019, which also suggested that there was a 15 percent increase in spam calls in India during 2019.