ITU-TRAI Training on Consumer Protection
Regulating Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC):
Service Provider’s Perspective
Date : Tuesday, 22nd March’2016 – Session 4
What is Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC)
Unsolicited Commercial Communication in India
 Over the years, telemarketing has emerged as one of the simplest and cost efficient tool for marketing
of products. A large number of these ‘telemarketing’ calls and SMSs are unsolicited, disturbing the
recipients and intruding into their privacy. Such calls or messages as termed “Unsolicited Commercial
Communications (UCC)”.
 The telephone is a point-to-point communication technology that demands immediate attention since
no one wishes to miss important or urgent messages. In this situation, subscribers view UCCs as a
nuisance and inconvenience because they encroach on their time and often interfere with their
ongoing activities.
 The issue of telemarketing calls/SMS engaged the attention of our Parliament, the Hon’ Supreme
Court of India, the Hon’ High Court of Delhi, the Reserve Bank of India, and the State Commission
(Consumer) of Delhi. There had also been a number of consumer complaints made to the TRAI about
telemarketing calls.
 At this point, the TRAI was quick to react, and notified the “Telecom Unsolicited Commercial
Communications Regulations, 2007” dated 5th June, 2007, putting in place a framework for controlling
UCCs.
 The principal regulations were amended on a few occasions to simplify the customer enrolment
process, smoothen the system for redressal of complaints, disconnect unregistered telemarketers and
impose financial disincentives for non-compliance with regulatory provisions.
Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communication (TUCCR) 2007 – key provisions
Do Not Disturb (DND) Registration effective in – 45 days
Scrubbing cycle for telemarketers (TMs) – 15 days
Complaint resolution TAT – 21 days
Complaints exchange between Operators via an outsourced portal
Unregistered telemarketer disconnection on 2nd complaint
Penalty to be recovered from registered telemarketers
No provision for DND-subscriber filtration at Operator level
Consumers demand….end of spam !!
 While these measures resulted in reduction in unsolicited commercial voice calls, it was observed
that the unsolicited SMS spam was increasing rapidly.
 Despite various measures taken by the Authority for curbing Unsolicited Commercial
Communications, dissatisfaction on this account among telecom customers continued.
 It was observed that the framework that had been put in place to curb UCC in 2007 had not been
effective to the desired levels and needed comprehensive revision.
Introduction of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer
Preference Regulations (TCCCPR) 2010
Customer has the choice to opt for Full or Partial blocking of commercial communication - simple and
quick procedure for registration
Preference categories – Banking/Finance; Real estate; Education; Health; Consumer Goods;
Communication/entertainment and Tourism – only SMS for these categories allowed
Separate Number Series for Telemarketing calls and standardized format of promotional and
transactional SMS headers – simplified telemarketer registration process
2-level DND scrubbing - both by the Telemarketer and the Access Provider - Shared database for
simplified & effective scrubbing
Restraint on number of SMS per day per SIM to control SMS spam
Effective complaints redressal – reduced TAT, higher Operator ownership and centralized monitoring.
Auto-generated email escalations for delay in complaint resolution.
Advance Security Deposit for registered telemarketers to cover for any future non-compliance, harsher
consequences for unregistered telemarketers and Originating Access Providers
TCCCP Portal is the backbone of the TCCCPR...
The TCCCP Portal is a one-stop-shop for managing end-to-end customer and
telemarketer registrations, database, complaints resolution, penalty & blacklisting
SMS Signature Solution – spam detection and control
Spam Detection
Filters :
1) Content Signature Analysis- xx SMS/hour
2) User Traffic Analysis- xx SMS/hr
3) User Reputation Analysis
4) Content Matching - Keyword/phrase/Numbers
5) Call to action – basis defined Number,URL,Email ID
6) Other need-based filters
Signatures creation :
1) Online signature generation basis algorithms
defined in the system
2) Offline signature generation from complaints data
3) Spam reviewed by Security Centre of the Solution
Provider globally
Signature sharing between Operators :
Signature Solution providers across Operators
creating common updated cartridge, capturing
blocked signatures data from their respective
operators, and releasing updated fingerprinting
cartridge periodically.
Spam Control
Blocking :
1) SMS matching any signature in fingerprint
cartridge with xx% similarity to be blocked
2) Restrict subscriber service basis reputation
thresholds across filters
3) SMS containing defined keywords/phrases to be
blocked
4) Multiple SMS from same source blocked as per
thresholds
Review
Reports :
Review of spam blocking reports and UCC complaints
for spam control effectiveness
Policy Review :
Periodic review of filter thresholds, their effectiveness
in control, revision in thresholds
Monitoring and timely interventions by TRAI - I
Issue
Action taken vide
Provided in the Amendment/Direction
Operational issues in implementation of
some provisions
01st – 05th Amendments
Dec’2010 – Mar’2011
Extension of implementation dates
• Definition of transactional messages
• Query about 100 SMS per SIM
• Format of header of promotional SMS
06th Amendment dated
05th Sep’2011
Clarification provided
• Promotional SMS termination charge
• Issues with complaint registration on
SMS
Review 100 SMS per SIM per day limit
UCC SMS from International routes
Blacklisting registered telemarketers for
promotional and/or transactional
communication violation
• SMS cap revoked causing huge spike in
complaints
• Issues with complaint registration
modes
07th Amendment dated
25th Oct’2011
08th Amendment dated
01st Nov’2011
• INR 0.05 termination charge on all promotional SMS
• simplified complaint registration on SMS
• entity sending transactional message to enter into a
legal agreement with Service Provider
Limit of 100 SMS per SIM per day increased to 200 SMS per
SIM per day
Direction dated 20th
Jan’2012
• Block International SMS with alpha headers
• Block masked International SMS from +91 CLIs
09th Amendment dated
14th May’2012
Clarification provided
10th Amendment dated
05th Nov’2012
• Price restraint on discounted SMS
• all operators to set-up network-level SMS Signature
solution
• complaint registration through web and email as well
Monitoring and timely interventions by TRAI - II
Issue
Action taken vide
Provided in the Amendment/Direction
• Operators sought clarity on definition
of SMS Signature
• Transactional SMS termination charge
11th Amendment dated
24th May’2013
• Definition of Signature modified and clarified
• Transactional SMS charge of INR 0.05 introduced
Further restraint on unregistered
telemarketers
12th Amendment dated
24th May’2013
• Disconnection on 1st validated complaint
• Blacklisting across service providers for 2 years
• Entities/beneficiaries outsourcing bulk
SMS marketing to unregistered
telemarketers
• Operators found deficient in their
verification processes allowing
unregistered telemarketing to flourish
13th Amendment dated
22nd Aug’2013
• Provision for disconnection of entity/beneficiary
• Disconnection of call back numbers in the SMS
• Financial Disincentive on Operators for failing to prevent
origination of UCC on their network
• Nodal Officers appointed by all Banks and Insurance Cos
for corrective action
Registration fee and security deposit were
viewed to be a deterrent to registered
telemarketing
14th Amendment dated
03rd Dec’2013
• Registration fee and security deposit halved
• Registration validity raised from 03 to 05 years
• Large scale disconnection of telecom
resources of entities and beneficiaries
• Representations and assurances from
Banks, Insurance and Real Estate Cos
15th Amendment dated
07th Apr’2014
Restoration of telecom resources disconnected under
provisions of 13th Amendment on satisfactory representation,
undertaking and payment of reconnection charge @ INR 500
per resource.
Request from stakeholders to allow 2-way
communication for transactional
messages
16th Amendment dated
10th Dec’2014
• 2-way transactional messages permitted using 5-digit
short code beginning with “5”
• Security Deposit and Penalty for violations twice than that
for registered telemarketers
Complaints trend with TCCCPR milestones
Nov’12 – Cap on discounted
SMS and Signature Solution
announced in TCCCPR
Aug-Sep’13 – SMS Signature
Solution deployed in airtel
network & Operator Penalty
introduced
Dec’10 – TCCCPR
2010 announced
45,000
40,000
35,000
30,000
25,000
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
•
Provisions in TUCCR 2007 were found to be inadequate to address the issue of UCC
•
TCCCPR cap on 100 SMS/SIM/day was very effective, but was revoked for judicial reasons
•
Price restraint on discounted SMS was the next big thing, and, finally, the implementation of Signature
Solution on SMS traffic proved to be the most effective tool
•
Complaints have since been keeping low, leading to higher consumer satisfaction
Jan-16
Nov-15
Sep-15
Jul-15
May-15
Mar-15
Jan-15
Nov-14
Sep-14
Jul-14
Mar-14
Jan-14
Nov-13
Sep-13
Jul-13
May-14
Month
May-13
Mar-13
Jan-13
Nov-12
Sep-12
Jul-12
May-12
Mar-12
Jan-12
Nov-11
Sep-11
Jul-11
May-11
Jan-11
Mar-11
Nov-10
Sep-10
Jul-10
May-10
Mar-10
Jul'12 - 100
SMS cap
withdrawn
Jan-10
Complaints
Sep’11 – cap of 100
SMS/day/SIM implemented
Learnings
Regular monitoring &
quick reaction by the
Regulator
• Constant monitoring, early identification of spam trends and
timely intervention by the TRAI has been the key to the success
of TCCCPR.
Consultation and
collaboration
• One of the major contributors in the success of the TCCCPR has
been the consultative and cooperative approach adopted by
the TRAI in taking the Service Providers together at every step.
Customer-centricity
• Customer-centricity has been the focus of this joint effort.
• Transparency and availability of information have done well for
the consumer confidence.
Airtel initiatives
Comprehensive analysis to identify spam, and mass disconnection of potential spammers
Disciplinary action against Sales Channels involved in activation of potential spammers
disconnected basis above investigations
Constant monitoring and early identification of changing trends in SMS spam
Blacklisting of repeatedly violating IMEIs on the network
Zero tolerance for unregistered telemarketing and lottery-related spam
Leveraging Anti-spam tool to block camouflaged transactional SMS spam
Provision in the Anti-spam tool for not just blocking spam SMS, but also the spammer MSISDNs
Way forward….
Comprehensive, analysis-based proactive action on
voice spam
Leveraging the analysis-based solutions to combat
the increasing menace of lottery/banking/credit
card/insurance frauds
Curbing grey traffic both on voice and SMS
Thank you