To prevent spam calls and associated scams, Indian telecom carriers must implement AI-backed services beginning on May 1, 2023. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has made a significant step to safeguard consumers from fraud and harassment with this action. You might soon find relief if you’re sick of getting unwanted calls and messages from obnoxious numbers.
All telecom firms would be required to implement AI spam filters in their call and SMS services under the new regulations. These filters will recognise and stop fake and promotional calls and texts coming from different sources, which are frequently used by fraudsters to cheat people for their money. The intention is to combat the rising instances of spam and the annoyance these calls and texts cause clients.
Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio are two of the telecom behemoths that have agreed to adopt the AI filter service in accordance with the mandate. This has been officially confirmed by Airtel, and Jio is slated to begin offering the service shortly. The Indian telecom sector will benefit greatly from this because it will lessen the number of invasive calls and texts that consumers get.
TRAI met with service providers including Bharti Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea (VIL) earlier in February to examine the issue with the UCC detection mechanism. “Today we have made it very clear that telcos have to come out with an integrated system of stopping fraud (calls and messages),” the TRAI stated during the meeting. Although they are working, more needs to be done.
Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) is regulated by the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (also known as the “TCCCPR, 2018”). The laws became effective on February 28, 2019. A blockchain-based ecosystem (also known as distributed ledger technology, or DLT) has been established through its implementation in a co-regulatory manner with the participation of all telecom service providers (TSPs). The action was taken to lessen the threat that UCC posed.
As a result, the TRAI has ordered telecom firms to stop making promotional calls to 10-digit mobile numbers, which are frequently exploited by spammers and scammers. The government has also requested that telecoms implement the Call ID function, which would allow users to recognise callers by their photo and name displayed on the screen of their mobile device.
Due to privacy concerns, telecom firms like Airtel and Jio are hesitant to adopt the technology. Despite the fact that no specific information about this announcement has been made public. As of right now, spam will start to be filtered using AI technology on May 1.
