The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has extended the deadline for implementing the traceability mandate for commercial messages, including one-time passwords (OTPs), to December 11, 2024. This extension follows requests from access providers and the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), providing additional time for compliance with the updated regulations.
To improve message traceability, TRAI had issued a directive on August 20, 2024, mandating that all commercial messages between senders and recipients be traceable starting November 1, 2024. In response, telecom operators deployed the required technical solutions. However, recognizing the need for further technical enhancements and updates to PE-TM chain declarations, the deadline was initially extended to November 30, 2024, and subsequently to December 10, 2024. TRAI has instructed all access providers to finalize the PE-TM chain declarations by this new deadline.
Effective December 11, 2024, any message traffic with undefined or non-compliant telemarketer chains will be rejected. TRAI emphasized the urgency for principal entities (PEs) and telemarketers (TMs) to prioritize the declaration of these chains, warning that non-compliance will result in message rejection from the stipulated date. So far, over 27,000 PEs have registered their chains with telecom operators, and registration efforts are ongoing.
