en.Wedoany.com Reported - India's telecom regulator, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), is seeking to take action under the Information Technology (IT) Act against call management apps and digital platforms such as Truecaller, Hiya, and Whoscall, according to sources familiar with the matter. This is because these platforms are marking and blocking numbers from the 1400 and 1600 series as spam calls, despite these special number series having been designated for commercial communications.
Currently, TRAI cannot directly regulate such platforms, as these intermediary platforms fall under the purview of the IT Act and are not license holders of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). Telecom operators, however, are mandated to comply with directives issued by the regulator. An official who spoke on condition of anonymity stated that the aim is not to regulate these apps, but the IT Act allows relevant ministries or administrative bodies to take action against apps if they violate the law.
The official added that while safe harbor provisions exist, apps must comply with national laws, and TRAI has noted that some apps are violating its regulations. Safe harbor rules refer to legal provisions that protect organizations from regulatory liability, provided specific predefined guidelines are met.
The regulator seeks to be designated as an "authorized agency" under the Act, enabling it to formally notify platforms of violations and demand corrective action. Officials indicated that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is believed to have agreed to this request, with the Department of Telecommunications expected to initiate follow-up actions. Queries sent to TRAI remained unanswered.
Multiple officials stated that such unwarranted marking or blocking hampers legitimate commercial communications and even affects government projects. An official who declined to be named pointed out that due to incorrect labeling, businesses may be inclined to revert to using regular 10-digit numbers, leading to an increase in spam and a decline in consumer trust.
Truecaller stated that the company has always complied with TRAI regulations and does not mark any designated series numbers as spam or automatically block them. A company spokesperson clarified that even if Truecaller receives hundreds of thousands of spam reports against certain numbers, it will not display or mark specific numbers within the designated series as spam, in accordance with TRAI's rules.
