First-time violations attracted a 15-day outgoing-service suspension, while repeat offenders faced disconnection for one year, according to the report.
Highlights:
- Outgoing services barred on 1,10,325 telecom resources for 15 days.
- Another 13,777 resources disconnected for one year over repeat violations.
- TRAI blocked 3,725 SMS headers and blacklisted 374 senders.
- Consumers submitted 15.29 lakh spam complaints during the quarter.
- The DND App accounted for 92.9% of complaints received.
- Operators’ AI systems flagged 1,990 crore calls and SMSes as suspected spam.
India’s telecom regulator stepped up its crackdown on spam calls and messages during July–September 2026, taking enforcement action against more than 1.24 lakh telecom resources and blacklisting 374 senders for one year.
According to the Business Standard report citing TRAI’s quarterly data, outgoing services on 1,10,325 telecom resources, including mobile numbers, were suspended for 15 days for first-time violations. Another 13,777 resources were disconnected for one year for repeat breaches of unsolicited commercial communication norms.
The regulator also blocked 3,725 SMS headers. The 374 blacklisted senders cannot obtain fresh telecom resources during their one-year restriction.
Over 15 lakh complaints received
TRAI received 15.29 lakh complaints about unsolicited commercial communications during the quarter, of which 7.23 lakh were classified as actionable. The TRAI DND App remained the main reporting channel, accounting for 14.21 lakh complaints, or 92.9% of the total.
The app had recorded 42.36 lakh downloads by September 30, according to the report.
Telecom operators’ artificial intelligence systems flagged 1,990 crore incoming calls and SMSes as suspected spam. These comprised 1,828 crore calls and 162 crore messages.
Operators also issued more than 45.9 lakh warning notifications to suspected spam senders. They conducted electronic know-your-customer verification of 34,025 suspected senders and disconnected 9,977 who failed verification.
Dedicated number series for commercial calls
The report outlined dedicated numbering series intended to help consumers identify different categories of commercial calls.
Promotional calls use the 140 series. The 1600 series is designated for service and transactional calls from banking, financial services and insurance entities, alongside government-to-citizen communications.
A separate 1601 series was introduced on August 10 for service and transactional calls from utilities, logistics and delivery companies.
During the quarter, 170 crore promotional calls were blocked after checks against consumers’ registered Do Not Disturb preferences. Another 1,109 crore promotional SMSes were blocked following preference verification.
DND registration remains limited
Despite these measures, only about 22.45 crore consumers had registered preferences on the DND registry by September 30. This represented 16.64% of the country’s 134.9-crore subscriber base.
More than 112 crore subscribers had not registered any preference, leaving them accessible to commercial communications from registered senders and telemarketers.
TRAI said its quarterly enforcement figures were compiled using information submitted by telecom service providers.
