TRAI disconnected 32,000 spamming telemarketers in 2022, double of 2021

As many as 32,032 unregistered telemarketers (UTM) were shut down in 2022 after complaints of spam, more than double the 15,382 UTM closed in 2021, data submitted by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to Lok Sabha on Wednesday, showed.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) classifies any sender of commercial communication who is not officially registered as a telemarketing with Access Providers such as Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and BSNL, as UTMs. After receiving multiple spam complaints, access providers are bound by law to shut down UTMs based on TRAI guidelines on Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC) including spam.