Until now, TRAI has faced several legal and technical hurdles in ensuring compliance and penalising telecom operators. Under the existing system, if a telecom company violates regulations concerning spam calls, TRAI can recommend penalties to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) rather than imposing fines directly. However, legal complications have often allowed companies to avoid penalties or obtain stays on orders by approaching the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT).
The government is now working to eliminate these legal loopholes by empowering TRAI to impose penalties directly on telecom companies found violating the regulations. The move is aimed at making the enforcement mechanism stricter and improving accountability among telecom operators.
The proposal comes amid a sharp rise in consumer complaints about unsolicited calls and messages. Data shows that complaints against unwanted calls and messages have increased consistently since 2022. Around 82 per cent of these complaints were registered against unregistered telemarketers.
According to the reported figures, authorities received 13.62 lakh complaints in 2023. The number increased to more than 19.38 lakh in 2024 before rising further to 31.09 lakh in 2025.
The trend has continued in 2026. More than 20.75 lakh complaints related to spam calls were registered in the first six months of this year alone. This figure represents 66 per cent of the total complaints recorded throughout 2025.
While complaints about spam calls have increased, action against the numbers used to make such calls has declined. Between August and December 2024, authorities disconnected 9.21 lakh fraudulent connections. However, the number dropped sharply to just 1.94 lakh in 2025.
The decline continued during the first half of 2026, when only 79,000 connections were disconnected.
The proposed changes could give TRAI greater enforcement powers against telecom companies and address the gap between rising consumer complaints and action against violations. Whether the new framework can make penalties more effective will depend on the powers granted to the regulator and their implementation.
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