Tighter anti-spam norms in a month

STRONG SIGNAL

- Moumita Bakshi Chatterjee

TIGHTER REGULATIONS ON curbing spam as well as new consultation examining an authorisation framework for telemarketers are expected in coming weeks, said Trai chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti. Trai will also start a pilot this month to onboard paper-based and past permissions given by customers for receiving commercial communications onto its digital distributed ledger technology platform. This process in the long-run would include scrubbing and verifying customers' current validity and offering opt-outs to those keen on it.

Trai has also ruled out any rethink on its latest regulation that mandates service providers to offer separate special tariff vouchers (STV) for voice calls and SMS.

Lahoti said while consumers can be encouraged to use data, they cannot be "compelled" to do so.

Trai's focus is to protect not only the interest of the industry, but also the interest of the consumer, who must have the option to pay only for services they need, he said.