Over 90% of the key players, responsible for the majority of SMS commercial traffic, have effectively registered the message chain to guarantee traceability, thereby ensuring minimal interruptions in the delivery of commercial SMSs such as OTPs, India’s leading telecom companies stated.

Starting Wednesday, telecom companies activated message traceability and obstructed those not complying with the new Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) directive aimed at reducing widespread spam that exploited subscribers for financial scams. An industry representative stated that the system experienced a "less than 1% failure" rate in messages reaching the final consumers.

"Starting December 11, 2024, the blocking mode will be fully operational. Any message where the telemarketer chain is undefined or does not match will be rejected in accordance with Trai's directives," said SP Kochhar, director-general of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) that represents Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea.

"This proactive measure is expected to minimise disruption and consumer inconvenience," Kochhar said, adding that telecom operators and stakeholders have undertaken extensive preparatory work to put the system in place.

The remarks arise in light of the Trai directive from August 20, 2024, which requires traceability for all commercial messages dispatched by PEs. Following the directive effective December 11, messages lacking a specific or corresponding telemarketer (TM) chain will be blocked to enhance safer and clearer communication channels for mobile users.