The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recently drafted new norms to counter the widespread Telemarketing Spam, proposing the idea of using Blockchain Technology to curb the use of Pesky calls and messages. TRAI is planning to use Blockchain to prevent the users from unsolicited telemarketing communications to make sure that the telemarketing calls and messages are sent only by the authorised entities.

TRAI claims that the use of a distributed ledger technology like Blockchain will help the regulators to effectively track ‘pesky’ telemarketing spammers who are using unregistered phone numbers to evade tracking.

TRAI chairman, R.S Sharma states that the use of Blockchain will ensure two things. I.e Confidentiality and non-repudiation. With the advent of Blockchain, only the authorised entities will be able to access subscriber details and that too, when they need to deliver any service. If at any point, a subscriber feels that the service provider is misusing their authority, he can revoke his consent any time through the TRAI app. Sharma explains that TRAI will possibly be the first organization to implement Blockchain as a RegTech (Regulatory Technology) and that too, on such a large scale.

Also read Blockchain Technology To Revamp Email Messaging.

Once it goes mainstream, the new ledger technology will create and maintain a digital record of all the communications between subscribers and entities. This will further help TRAI to keep a track of all the authorised telemarketing agencies and capture customer consent for information.

Statistics reveal that somewhat around 30 billion commercial messages are sent to various subscribers in India every month out of which a majority of messages are either spammy or insignificant to the recipients. To this date, more than 230 million subscribers have opted for the DND (Do Not Disturb) service offered by TRAI to prevent the users against all sorts of disruptions caused by the unwanted calls and messages.

The norms regarding how the blockchain is going to be used are included in the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations 2018 draft which will be publicized till June 11.