Sources said TRAI wanted to act against call management apps for misidentifying or blocking approved commercial numbers. Numbers in the 1400 and 1600 series have been designated for official promotional and customer service purposes.
TRAI does not have the authority to prosecute such digital platforms because, unlike telecom licensees, who are bound by TRAI’s directions issued under the Telecom Regulation Act, they function as information intermediaries under the IT Act.
However, authorities said TRAI had sought amendments to the IT Act to designate it as an “authorized agency” to notify such digital platforms of alleged violations of the IT Act, directing them to stop or take steps to bring their services within the bounds of the law.
Authorities said the electronics and information technology ministry had approved the proposal in principle and that DoT would take up the needed legislative action with the ministry. However, authorities said TRAI did not seek to regulate call identifier apps but that the regulator felt that as information intermediaries, they should follow the laws and regulations administered by TRAI.
Authorities felt that such apps’ labeling or blocking of numbers in the 1400 and 1600 series not only deprived authorized users of a reliable means of reaching out to them but also disrupted government-led outreach efforts, especially those using numbers in these series. Authorities said such interference disincentivized enterprises from using the 1400 and 1600 series of numbers and tempted them to use ordinary 10-digit mobile numbers for customer outreach.
This defeats the purpose of having designated numbers since it becomes difficult for consumers to differentiate between legitimate and fraudulent callers, ultimately undermining consumer confidence and making it easier for spammers to masquerade as legitimate entities.
Truecaller said in a statement reacting to the reports that it complied with the TRAI regulations about commercial numbers.
The firm stated that it did not put spam labels over or block numbers in the 1400 and 1600 series despite being reported as spam on its app by many users.
India seeks to balance consumer rights and obligations by regulating commercial communications while ensuring that legitimate communication avenues are not cut off for businesses that use spam calls to sell or inform the public.
