The government said on Wednesday that telecom service providers have put 1,150 institutions/individuals in the black list and cut over 18.8 lakh resources, as it aims to further control the spread of spam calls and messages. Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, Dr. Chandrashekhar Pemmasani told the Lok Sabha in a written reply that there has been a significant decrease in complaints against unregistered telemarketers (UTMs) due to these actions – 1,89,419 in August 2024 to 1,34,821 in January 2025 to 1,34,821 in January 2025.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) amended Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018 on 12 February. A customer can now complain about spam/unwanted commercial communication (UCC) within seven days of receiving spam, while the earlier time limit was three days. As per the amendments, the deadline for taking action against UCC from unregistered sectors has been reduced from 30 days to 5 days. To ensure quick action against those sending UCC, the criteria for taking action against them have been revised and made more rigid.

According to TRAI, to initiate action, it has been revised as “5 complaints against the sender in the last 10 days” in comparison to the criteria before the preceding criteria of “having 10 complaints against the sender in the last 7 days”. These amendments will be applicable in the official gazette after 30 days from the date of their publication.

In addition, TRAI has recently issued instructions to disconnect all telecommunications of unregistered sectors/UTMs, which are being used to make spam calls and such sectors have been blacklisted. Last month, the government warned telecom service providers to finance up to Rs 10 lakh for unwanted commercial communication (UCC) and SMS to implement revised regulations.

Amending TCCCPR, 2018 aims to deal with emerging ways of misuse of telecom resources and promote more transparent commercial communication ecosystem for consumers.