In a decisive move to curb spam and fraudulent communications in the country, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) convened a meeting of the Joint Committee of Regulators (JCoR) on April 25, 2025, at its headquarters in New Delhi.

The meeting brought together key representatives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), Ministry of Consumer Affairs (MoCA), and Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY). Senior officials from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also participated as special invitees.

According to a press release issued by the Press Information Bureau (PIB), the JCoR meeting focused on fostering greater cross-sectoral regulatory collaboration, particularly in dealing with the surge of unsolicited commercial communications (UCC) and evolving fraudulent practices. The initiative, driven by TRAI, aims to provide a unified platform for regulators from sectors like telecommunications, IT, consumer affairs, finance, and insurance to address the regulatory challenges emerging in an increasingly digital world.

Opening the session, TRAI Chairman Shri Anil Kumar Lahoti emphasized the urgent need for a collaborative approach to curb spam calls and messages, which continue to inconvenience and defraud citizens, particularly senior citizens. Shri Lahoti lauded the progress achieved by the JCoR so far but stressed that several challenges still lie ahead in building a more resilient regulatory framework.

Among the key issues deliberated during the meeting was the expedited rollout of the 1600 series numbers — a dedicated number series for transactional and service voice calls by government and financial sector entities. Members of the committee agreed to facilitate swift onboarding within their respective domains and monitor the rollout closely. The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) also presented solutions enabling a single 1600 series number to function uniformly across all telecom service providers and licensed service areas nationwide.

Another significant topic of discussion was the Digital Consent Acquisition (DCA) platform. The JCoR members reached a consensus to actively engage principal entities under their jurisdiction and expedite their registration on the DCA platform, thereby strengthening consumer consent mechanisms.

In response to the growing threat of scams such as the “digital arrest” frauds, the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C) proposed multiple measures, including prompt deletion of unused message headers and templates, swift action against fraudulent SMS headers, and blocking of mobile numbers or IMEIs implicated in scam activities. The committee agreed to work on the modalities for implementing these proposals effectively.

Emerging risks posed by Over-the-Top (OTT) and Rich Communication Services (RCS) platforms were also a focus of the meeting. Recognizing that spam and scams are not confined to traditional telecom channels, the members agreed that MeitY would engage with relevant stakeholders to devise regulatory frameworks similar to those already in place for conventional telecommunications.

Concluding the session, the JCoR members reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing cross-sectoral collaboration, ensuring consumer protection, and building a safer, more efficient commercial communication ecosystem for India’s growing digital economy.