TRAI Issue Direction To Access Providers To Stop The Misuse Of Message Template

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ("TRAI") on May 12, 2023, issued a direction to all the Access Providers to stop the misuse of Message Templates, under THE TELECOM COMMERCIAL COMMUNICATIONS CUSTOMER PREFERENCE REGULATIONS, 2018 ("TCCCPR2018"). It is stated that the Unsolicited Commercial Communication ("UCC") is a major source of inconvenience to the public and impinges on the privacy of individuals and TRAI has been taking various steps to curb it. The Authority has directed all the Access Providers that the use of more than three variable parts in the contents shall be permitted only with proper justification and additional checks.

The TRAI has mandated that Access Providers shall have to designate a separate approving authority for such content templates. Each variable part needs to be pre-tagged for the purpose it is proposed to be used and a minimum of thirty percent of the message should comprise of the fixed part so that intent of the original