 "DoT's 100-day agenda intact: Crackdown on rising spam calls, text messages")
Crackdown on rising spam calls and text messages through multiple technological and policy interventions will remain integral to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT's) 100-day agenda under the new government.
The reassurance came after negotiations began to form a coalition government under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which raised concerns about the potential challenges and policy paralysis.
Given that most of the plans, including an overhaul to key portals like Chakshu and the mandatory implementation of the Digital Consent Authorisation (DCA) by telecom companies are already present, work will go on, officials said.
"These steps are based on policy continuity, and are expected to go through," a senior official said.
However, it remains unclear whether other areas of the 100-day agenda, including the notification of rules for the Telecom Bill and creating a policy framework for satellite spectrum allocation will be completed in the first three months.
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“After the passing of the Telecom Bill, these rules have to be notified in any case. The department is finalising the terms of reference (ToR) for the administrative allocation of satellite spectrum. Trai will begin new consultations on the matter after the DoT provides the updated ToR. It may take some time," he added.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked ministers to draft key deliverables and roadmaps from their ministries for the first 100 days of the government, if the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) returned to power. Classified as the 'Unsolicited Commercial Communication' (UCCS), usually sent by unregistered telemarketers (UTMs), spam was flagged as the key focus.
A panel for curbing spam is expected to be set up for better coordination, which will include the DoT, the Consumer Affairs Ministry, and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The panel will work towards creating draft guidelines for phone calls made over the internet and WhatsApp, a key area of concern, officials said. It may also include telecom operators.
The department is also planning to roll out updates to its Chakshu portal, which allows citizens to report mobile numbers suspected for fraudulent communication received on calls or SMS or social media like WhatApp.
Launched in March, it triggers re-verification of suspected fraudulent numbers. Failing re-verification, the number will be disconnected.
Meanwhile, Trai also plans to step up the implementation of the DCA platform by telcos, mandated by the regulator last year to curb spam and excessive tele-calling. A unified platform to seek, maintain, and revoke the consent given by customers towards receiving commercial communication from businesses, DCA was brought in to give consumers control over who can message them.
However, Trai flagged the sluggish pace exhibited by operators like Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and BSNL in onboarding private businesses onto the system. The operators have blamed sluggish response from the industry.
Till now, there had been no unified system for customers to provide or revoke consent. In the earlier system, customer consent was obtained and maintained by businesses.
The problem often begins when these businesses purchase bulk short messaging services (SMS) from a telemarketer to send texts to its clients and customers. Telecom service providers such as Access Providers could not check the veracity of consent.