Government considers granting Trai power to impose penalties to curb spam calls and messages

The Government of India is working on a provision to grant the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) the power to impose penalties to curb the problem of spam calls and unsolicited messages. According to a report by Business Standard, the government is striving to resolve issues regarding Trai's ability to penalise telecom operators for rule violations. An official source stated, "There are some issues in Trai's ability to impose financial penalties on telecom operators to ensure compliance. The Ministry of Telecom is attempting to resolve this and grant Trai that power."

Under the current process, when Trai becomes aware that a telecom operator has violated rules carrying penalty provisions, it sends a recommendation for financial penalties to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). However, according to sources, due to legal-technical issues and a reduction in bank guarantees following the 2021 telecom reforms, the DoT has not implemented the penalty recommendations received from the regulator. Meanwhile, telecom operators have challenged Trai's penalty orders in the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) and obtained stay orders.

Official data shows that complaints against spam calls and messages have increased year on year since 2022, with over 82 per cent of complaints registered against unregistered telemarketers. According to figures, there were 12.84 lakh complaints in 2021, which decreased to 10.83 lakh in 2022. Subsequently, this number increased by 26 per cent to 13.62 lakh in 2023, by 42 per cent to 19.38 lakh in 2024, and reached 31.09 lakh with a 60 per cent increase in 2025. In the first six months of the current year 2026 alone, over 20.75 lakh complaints have been registered, which is approximately 66 per cent of the total complaints of 2025.

However, a decline has been observed in the action of disconnecting telecom resources used to send such messages. According to data shared by the Minister, 19.21 lakh connections were disconnected between August and December 2024, a number that dropped to 1.94 lakh in 2025, and only 79,000 resources were disconnected in the first six months of 2026.

On the other hand, actions against entities sponsoring spam calls and messages have continuously increased. According to data, 155 registered principal entities were blacklisted in August-December 2024, a number that rose to 995 in 2025 and 1,406 in the first six months of 2026. Regarding registered telemarketers, 41 were blacklisted in August-December 2024, 12 in 2025, and 7 telemarketers have been blacklisted up to June of the current year.

Trai (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) is an independent regulatory body established by the Government of India, responsible for the development and regulation of the country's telecom sector.