By Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation 2018 (TCCCP Regulation 2018)
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its continuous endeavour to create a cleaner and transparent system in the Indian telecom industry has released a new regulation in July 2018 to curb Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC), mitigate fraudulent activities and enhance mobile subscriber privacy. The regulation is called Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation 2018 (TCCCP Regulation 2018) and can be downloaded here.
This Regulation intends to eliminate spam and fraud which has been a concern for many years and is built on ‘Blockchain Technology’ and is commonly known as ‘Distributed Ledger Technology’ (DLT).
DLT will introduce Blockchain technology for Operators to help maintain uniformity in the Indian telecom industry with all operators. Blockchain technology has proven useful in areas where the objective is to cryptographically secure information and make it available only on need to know basis. Through blockchain, SMS users will not have the option to deny their actions or tamper with records as the same will be recorded on the distributed ledger and thereby uniformly enforcing regulatory compliance.
India has been witnessing tremendous increase in mobile subscribers over the last decade. With this increase, there has been an increase in spam and fraud as well, which has been a major concern for the telecom industry.
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The regulation is called Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation 2018 (TCCCP Regulation 2018)
Entities can register directly on the Operator Platform and whitelist their sender ids Headers.
Airtel Entity Registration Link
Entity can also register through other Operators Vodafone Idea , Videocon , BSNL or JIO.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in its continuous endeavour to create a cleaner and transparent system in the Indian telecom industry has released a new regulation in July 2018 to curb Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC), mitigate fraudulent activities and enhance mobile subscriber privacy. The regulation is called Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation 2018 (TCCCP Regulation 2018) and can be downloaded here.
This Regulation intends to eliminate spam and fraud which has been a concern for many years and is built on ‘Blockchain Technology’ and is commonly known as ‘Distributed Ledger Technology’ (DLT).
DLT will introduce Blockchain technology for Operators to help maintain uniformity in the Indian telecom industry with all operators. Blockchain technology has proven useful in areas where the objective is to cryptographically secure information and make it available only on need to know basis. Through blockchain, SMS users will not have the option to deny their actions or tamper with records as the same will be recorded on the distributed ledger and thereby uniformly enforcing regulatory compliance.
India has been witnessing tremendous increase in mobile subscribers over the last decade. With this increase, there has been an increase in spam and fraud as well, which has been a major concern for the telecom industry.
In spite of TRAI’s continuous efforts through initiatives like DND etc, the problem of UCC couldn't be curbed completely. After extensive research and consultations, TRAI has notified TCCCP Regulation 2018 providing guidelines on roles & responsibilities of stakeholders and an agile process to deal with this problem effectively.
Scrubbing - All commercial communication messages will be scrubbed to arrest Spam as well as Fraud messages to protect mobile subscribers’ privacy. Messages will be scrubbed against multiple parameters like Consent, Preference, Header, Template etc; and not just DND list.
Interoperability between telecom service providers - Registration details of Entity, Telemarketer, Header and Template will be shared amongst all telecom service providers to ensure single view
Mandatory registration – Every Header (SenderID), Consent Template, Content Template is required to be registered on the DLT platform to ensure compliance and traceability
Detection of Unregistered Telemarketers (UTMs) in a collaborative and a more intelligent manner. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies will be used to detect unsolicited messages
Presently, four types of messaging account types are prescribed under DLT, viz, Promotional, Transactional, Service Implicit and Service Explicit. Every template should be registered under one of these classifications. Government messages will be classified under Service. The feature of these account classifications is as follows:
Promotional – Promotional/ offer based messages
Transactional – Bank related OTP type messages only
Service Implicit - OTP from entities apart from banks. Also, other SMS related to transactions or feedback will fall under this.
Service Explicit – Cross selling & Upselling or any information or security alert SMS will fall under this category.
DLT is proposed to be implemented in multiple phases as follows:
On-boarding of aggregators/ Telemarketer (TM)
Once an aggregator is on-boarded, the onboarding/ registration process for Customer (Principal Entity) is initiated and each such Customer’s account will be linked to their Registered TM
After Principle Entity is registered, they can upload their Header (Sender ID), message Template and Consent of existing customers and start the commercial communication using the platform
Presently, the operators have initiated the first phase focused on registering all entities/ enterprises on the DLT platform. Registered TMs are empowered to on-board entities/ enterprises as well as manage key functions on their behalf like creating Headers, Content Templates, Consent Template etc.
Access the DLT hyperlink (dlt.way2mint.in) received by you over email from the Way2mint Services team
- Provide details of authorised person (mobile no. & email ID) and letter of authorisation (format is enclosed as Annexure 1)
- Upload valid proof of identity (copy of PAN) and proof of address (Shops & Establishment/ GST/ TAN/FSSAI License)
- Pay the registration fee
- Entity registrar will validate and verify details provided within 72 working hours. In case of any discrepancy, the registrar will inform of such discrepancy, i.e. missing document or incorrect details on the registered e-mail and mobile number
- On successful registration, the entity registrar will approve, register and activate the Entity ID on DLT platform
- Post DLT ID activation, each entity can login on the DLT portal and carry out its functions as per business requirement
In case the Entity fails to submit requested documents or address queries raised by Registrar within 15 working days, the account will be deleted. In such a scenario, Entity has to create a new account from the beginning
Header is a unique 6-digit alpha string assigned to an individual, business or legal entity for sending commercial communication. Special characters such as @, $, %, &, etc. and blank space (“ ”) are not allowed.
Every entity needs to register header with the access providers. Every Header will be replicated across the DLT platform. Header will be as follows:
- 6 digit header for SMS
- 140xx series CLI for voice communication - Promotional
- Fixed line number series (like 040, 044, 022) for voice – Transactional/ Service
Every entity is required to register consent template on DLT platform to acquire consent from new subscribers prior to transmission of commercial communication. Consent can be taken thru Web, SMS or Application. Following are key to consent registration:
- Define Template Label, Message Content (Purpose of consent) and Validity
- Define Consent Type: Promotional, Service Explicit or Both
The following documents are required to be submitted as part of the registration process:
- Proof of Identity - Scanned copy of PAN card
- Proof of Address - Scanned copy of Shops & Establishment/ GST/ TAN/ FSSAI License/ Import Export Code
- Authorized Person Information - Details of the authorized person for DLT on entity letter head along with duly signed Letter of Authorisation (LOA)
Registration fees for entity and telemarter as mentioned below:-
Entity/ Enterprise - INR 5,000 + GST at 18%
Telemarketer - In addition to the entity registration fee, a refundable security deposit of INR 50,000 will be payable
Our team is monitoring all the activity of the new regime of Telecom regulation Authority of India and Operators and keep you posted on the same in your email address. Our weekly newsletters triggers to all the registered customers and keep them informed everytime.
In case of any queries, feel free to reach out to us.
For any further assistance feel free to email your queries to dlt@way2mint.com or you can connect your account manager for quick resolution.
