The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has launched a pilot project in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and select banks to test a digital consent management framework aimed at reducing spam calls and messages. The initiative addresses a key regulatory gap: while many businesses claim to have consumer consent for marketing outreach, these approvals are often obtained through unverifiable offline channels, making it difficult to validate their authenticity.
Under the 2018 Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), businesses can legally contact consumers even if they are registered on the Do Not Disturb (DND) list—provided they have explicit consent. However, misuse and vague consent practices have triggered consumer complaints and raised concerns around data-sharing, deception, and unauthorized use of mobile numbers.
Pilot to be implemented under regulatory sandbox model
To resolve these concerns, TRAI has mandated that consents be collected digitally and stored in interoperable, secure registries managed by telecom service providers (TSPs). These registries will allow real-time verification of consent at the time of commercial communication. As part of the pilot, TRAI has issued directions to all TSPs on 13 June 2025, instructing them to work with participating banks in implementing the consent registry system.
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Given the sensitivity of financial transactions and the rise in fraud via spam calls, the banking sector has been prioritized for the pilot phase. The programme is being run under a regulatory sandbox to assess the technical, operational, and policy aspects of the system before nationwide rollout. The pilot is also expected to support onboarding of commercial communication entities sector by sector.
Building trust in commercial communication channels
TRAI has introduced several regulatory innovations in recent years, including enabling consumer complaints against unregistered telemarketers even without DND registration and disconnecting telecom resources used for spamming. However, verifying consent remains a weak link.
By testing a digital consent registry, TRAI aims to enhance transparency and build consumer trust in commercial messaging. If successful, the pilot could lead to sector-wide deployment of a digital consent framework and curb the misuse of personal data across multiple industries.
