TRAI tightens spam rules: complaints within 7 days, 1600 series for service calls
TRAI amended the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018 on 12 February 2025 to curb unsolicited commercial communication.
Summary
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) amended the TCCCPR, 2018 on 12 February 2025 to tighten action against unsolicited commercial communication (UCC). Customers can now complain against spam from unregistered senders without first registering preferences, and within 7 days instead of 3. Operators must act against unregistered senders within 5 days instead of 30, and action is now triggered by 5 complaints in 10 days instead of 10 complaints in 7 days. Senders cannot use ordinary 10-digit numbers for telemarketing: the 140 series stays for promotional calls and the new 1600 series is for transactional and service calls. Operators face graded penalties of ₹2 lakh, ₹5 lakh and ₹10 lakh for misreporting UCC.
Key facts
- Date
- 12 February 2025
- Complaint window
- 7 days (earlier 3)
- Action against unregistered senders
- Within 5 days (earlier 30)
- Trigger
- 5 complaints in 10 days (earlier 10 in 7)
- Number series
- 140 promotional; 1600 transactional/service
- Penalties on operators
- ₹2 lakh, ₹5 lakh, then ₹10 lakh per instance
Practice MCQs 3 questions
Under TRAI's amended TCCCPR (February 2025), within how many days of receiving spam can a customer now complain?
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Correct answer: C — 7
Customers can now complain within 7 days of receiving spam, compared with the earlier 3-day limit.
Under the February 2025 TCCCPR amendments, which newly allocated number series is designated for transactional and service calls?
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Correct answer: B — 1600
The new 1600 series is for transactional and service calls, while the 140 series continues for promotional calls.
Consider the following statements about TRAI's amendments to the TCCCPR, 2018 (February 2025): 1. Action against a sender is now triggered by 5 complaints in 10 days. 2. Operators must act against spam from unregistered senders within 5 days instead of 30. 3. Promotional calls must now use the 1600 number series. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
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Correct answer: B — 1 and 2 only
The trigger is now 5 complaints in 10 days and the action deadline for unregistered senders fell from 30 days to 5. Promotional calls stay on the 140 series; 1600 is for transactional and service calls, so the third statement is wrong.