News · eGov
India's telecom regulator has intensified action against unsolicited commercial communications, barring over 1.24 lakh telecom resources and blacklisting 374 entities during the July-September quarter of 2026-27.
✦ AI SUMMARY 30-second read
- 1,10,325 telecom resources barred for 15 days for first-time violations; 13,777 disconnected for a year after repeat offences
- TRAI received 15.29 lakh spam complaints during the quarter, of which 7.23 lakh were classified as actionable
- 22.449 crore consumers had registered communication preferences on the DND registry as of September 30
Why it matters: The scale of enforcement signals a sharper regulatory stance on spam, directly affecting hundreds of millions of Indian mobile subscribers.
This summary was generated by AI. Editors may review and update it.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) barred more than 1.24 lakh telecom resources from outgoing services and blacklisted 374 entities for one year during the July-September quarter of 2026-27, as the regulator stepped up action against unsolicited commercial communications (UCC).
The figures come from TRAI's quarterly report for the second quarter of 2026-27. Of the resources barred, 1,10,325 — including mobile numbers — were suspended from outgoing services for 15 days following a first violation. A further 13,777 resources were disconnected for one year after repeat offences.
The regulator also blocked 3,725 SMS headers. Blacklisted entities are prohibited from obtaining fresh telecom resources for the duration of the one-year ban.
Complaint volumes and network traffic
TRAI received 15.29 lakh complaints about unsolicited commercial communications during the quarter, of which 7.23 lakh were classified as actionable. The complaints arose against a backdrop of 714.01 billion calls and 702.28 billion SMSes originating from telecom networks across the country.
The complaint rate stood at around 2.14 per million outgoing calls. The TRAI DND App was the primary reporting channel, accounting for 14.21 lakh complaints, representing 92.9 per cent of the total. The application had recorded 42.36 lakh downloads by September 30.
Telecom operators' artificial intelligence-based systems flagged 19.9 billion incoming calls and SMSes as suspected spam, comprising 18.28 billion calls and 1.62 billion SMSes. Operators also issued more than 45.9 lakh warning notifications to entities suspected of sending spam.
Verification and disconnection of suspected senders
Operators carried out electronic know-your-customer (e-KYC) verification of 34,025 suspected senders during the quarter. Of these, 9,977 were disconnected after failing the verification process.
Registered telemarketers originated 660.71 billion commercial SMSes during the period, while 11.09 billion promotional messages were blocked following preference verification. Among calls routed through the 140 promotional series, 1.70 billion were blocked after being checked against registered Do Not Disturb preferences, out of 15.27 billion promotional calls placed through that series.
Dedicated number series and DND registry
TRAI has introduced separate numbering series to help consumers tell apart different categories of calls. Promotional calls are routed through the 140 series, while the 1600 series is reserved for service and transactional calls from entities in banking, financial services, insurance, and government-to-citizen communications. A 1601 series, introduced on August 10, covers service and transactional calls from utilities, logistics and delivery companies.
As of September 30, 22.449 crore consumers had registered their communication preferences on the DND registry, representing 16.64 per cent of the country's 134.9-crore subscriber base. More than 112 crore subscribers had not registered any preferences and remained accessible to commercial communications from registered senders and telemarketers.
TRAI's consumer awareness activities during the quarter included campaigns across radio, television, newspapers and social media, as well as 322 physical awareness programmes involving around 31,000 participants. More than 3 billion SMSes were also sent to consumers to promote the DND App.
What happens next
TRAI noted that its quarterly enforcement data was compiled on the basis of information furnished by telecom service providers. Elets will update this story as further regulatory developments emerge.