India’s telecom regulator has intensified its crackdown on spam calls and unsolicited telemarketing as automated and artificial intelligence-driven calling tools continue to proliferate across the country’s telecom networks.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has tightened enforcement under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR) 2018, introducing faster action timelines and stricter compliance rules for telemarketers and telecom service providers.

The move comes amid a sharp rise in spam calls and promotional messages reaching mobile users, with regulators warning that automated dialling systems and AI-enabled calling tools are making it easier to conduct large-scale robocalling campaigns.

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TRAI Tightens Enforcement Timelines

Under the latest amendments, consumers now have seven days to report unsolicited commercial communications, up from three days previously.

Telecom operators must investigate complaints against unregistered telemarketers within five days, significantly shorter than the earlier 30-day window. Authorities can also initiate action when five complaints are received against a sender within ten days, lowering the previous threshold.

TRAI has also mandated that telemarketing calls originate from designated numbering series, preventing businesses from using standard 10-digit mobile numbers to make promotional calls. The regulator said the steps are intended to strengthen consumer protection and improve accountability across telecom networks.

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AI Monitoring and Legal Challenge

Telecom service providers are increasingly deploying AI systems to analyse call traffic patterns and automatically detect spam activity. These systems identify high-volume calling behaviour, suspicious number usage and abnormal messaging patterns.

B2B marketplace IndiaMART has challenged aspects of the spam regulations before the Delhi High Court, arguing that legitimate business-to-business calls risk being misclassified as spam. The court has issued notices to TRAI and the Department of Telecommunications, and the matter is currently under consideration.

India remains one of the most affected markets globally for spam, prompting regulators to push telecom operators toward stronger technology-led monitoring and enforcement.