No OTP from November 1? Jio, Airtel, Vodafone get deadline extension till….

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has introduced a phased implementation approach to address these concerns.

New Delhi: In a major relief to the telecom operators, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has granted a one-month extension to December 1st for telecommunications operators to implement a new traceability mandate for commercial messages, according to the reports. The commercial messages include one-time passwords (OTPs). The move is seen as an attempt to fight spam and phishing activities. The messages not conforming to the traceability mandate will be blocked from December 1, as against the earlier deadline of November 1, as per the revised deadline.

To recall, all major telecom operators like Airtel, Vodafone-Idea and Reliance Jio — had expressed concerns about the potential disruptions of blocking messages that don’t adhere to the traceability rules, as many telemarketers and businesses, including banks, may not be fully prepared.

Daily warnings Messages

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has introduced a phased implementation approach to address these concerns. Operators will provide daily warnings until November 30th to entities that do not meet the chain declaration requirements. Beginning December 1st, messages from non-compliant entities will be blocked.

It is important to note that TRAI has granted a second extension to the industry.
Earlier, the deadline for whitelisting messages with URLs and OTT links was extended to October 1st.

TRAI’s efforts to curb spam and enhance security in the telecom sector include blacklisting entities, disconnecting mobile numbers, and migrating telemarketing calls to a blockchain-based platform for stricter monitoring.