TRAI Escalates Action Against Spam Telemarketers in India, Issues Over 7 Lakh Notices

India’s telecom regulator said on Friday it sharply escalated action against spam telemarketers in 2025, issuing more than 7.31 lakh notices to violators and imposing communication restrictions on over 5.6 lakh entities as part of an intensified crackdown on unsolicited commercial communications. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said the measures were taken under its Unsolicited Commercial Communication framework to curb persistent spam networks and strengthen consumer protection. During the year, TRAI issued 731,120 notices to unregistered telemarketers found violating UCC norms, subjecting 473,075 entities to one-month communication restrictions, while 89,936 repeat offenders faced extended bans of up to six months. The regulator also disconnected 184,482 telecom resources for continued non-compliance, it said. Since August 2024, cumulative disconnections have crossed 2.1 million telecom resources, reflecting a sustained push to dismantle unauthorised spam operations. The enforcement drive was backed by a surge in consumer reporting through the Do Not Disturb ecosystem. TRAI said 3.11 million UCC complaints were registered across all reporting channels in 2025, of which 1.706 million—more than half—were submitted through the DND mobile application, highlighting increased consumer participation in identifying spam communications. Monthly data showed complaints against unregistered telemarketers consistently accounted for the vast majority of reported cases throughout the year, significantly outnumbering complaints against registered entities, reinforcing the regulator’s focus on targeting unauthorised operators functioning outside the regulatory framework. TRAI said it followed a dual-track approach that allows legitimate, consent-based commercial messaging through registered telemarketers, while deploying regulatory and technological safeguards to block spam. These included blockchain-based distributed ledger technology registration, artificial intelligence-led spam detection, mandatory use of designated number series, strengthened complaint mechanisms and disconnection of non-compliant senders. DND adoption also rose sharply during the year, with app installations increasing 84.43% year-on-year to 2.808 million cumulative installs in 2025, compared with 1.522 million in 2024, the regulator said. “TRAI’s enforcement efforts in 2025 are anchored in the principle that consumers should experience a perceptible improvement in control over unsolicited commercial communications,” TRAI chairman Anil Kumar Lahoti said, adding that higher consumer participation had enabled faster identification of violations and more decisive action against repeat offenders. The authority reiterated its commitment to protecting consumer interests, improving transparency and increasing the cost of non-compliance for entities engaged in unsolicited commercial communication, while continuing to refine the DND framework in consultation with stakeholders.