Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI: A framework to ensure the traceability of all commercial SMS has been achieved which is a major step towards creating a safer and spam-free messaging ecosystem, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said on December 19.
Under this framework, all principal entities (PEs) such as businesses, banks, and government agencies along with their telemarketers (TMs), were required to declare and register their message transmission paths through blockchain-based Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT).
This chain declaration and binding process ensures end-to-end traceability of every message, from its origin to its delivery, without compromising data security or delays in SMS delivery, said TRAI.
To operationalise this, TRAI issued a directive on August 20, 2024 mandating the traceability of all commercial messages starting November 1 2024. Recognising the scale of the activities involved in implementation, TRAI extended the compliance deadlines first to November 30 and later to December 10 to enable the smooth onboarding of approximately 1.13 lakh active PEs across diverse sectors such as banking, insurance, healthcare, and real estate.
TRAI adopted a collaborative approach by engaging with key sectoral regulators like RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFRDA, and government agencies such as NIC, CDAC, and state governments to promote awareness and accelerate declaration and binding efforts.
Access providers also played a crucial role in supporting PEs and TMs through targeted outreach campaigns and technical guidance for seamless integration into the DLT system.
To minimise disruptions, TRAI introduced an innovative implementation strategy during the initial enforcement period. While the chain binding regulations were technically enforced, messages sent through undeclared paths were temporarily allowed but flagged with error codes.
