ITU-TRAI Training on Consumer Protection

Regulating Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC):

Service Provider’s Perspective

Date : Tuesday, 22nd March’2016 – Session 4

What is Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC)

Unsolicited Commercial Communication in India

Over the years, telemarketing has emerged as one of the simplest and cost efficient tool for marketing

of products. A large number of these ‘telemarketing’ calls and SMSs are unsolicited, disturbing the

recipients and intruding into their privacy. Such calls or messages as termed “Unsolicited Commercial

Communications (UCC)”.

The telephone is a point-to-point communication technology that demands immediate attention since

no one wishes to miss important or urgent messages. In this situation, subscribers view UCCs as a

nuisance and inconvenience because they encroach on their time and often interfere with their

ongoing activities.

The issue of telemarketing calls/SMS engaged the attention of our Parliament, the Hon’ Supreme

Court of India, the Hon’ High Court of Delhi, the Reserve Bank of India, and the State Commission

(Consumer) of Delhi. There had also been a number of consumer complaints made to the TRAI about

telemarketing calls.

At this point, the TRAI was quick to react, and notified the “Telecom Unsolicited Commercial

Communications Regulations, 2007” dated 5th June, 2007, putting in place a framework for controlling

UCCs.

The principal regulations were amended on a few occasions to simplify the customer enrolment

process, smoothen the system for redressal of complaints, disconnect unregistered telemarketers and

impose financial disincentives for non-compliance with regulatory provisions.

Telecom Unsolicited Commercial Communication (TUCCR) 2007 – key provisions

Do Not Disturb (DND) Registration effective in – 45 days

Scrubbing cycle for telemarketers (TMs) – 15 days

Complaint resolution TAT – 21 days

Complaints exchange between Operators via an outsourced portal

Unregistered telemarketer disconnection on 2nd complaint

Penalty to be recovered from registered telemarketers

No provision for DND-subscriber filtration at Operator level

Consumers demand….end of spam !!

While these measures resulted in reduction in unsolicited commercial voice calls, it was observed

that the unsolicited SMS spam was increasing rapidly.

Despite various measures taken by the Authority for curbing Unsolicited Commercial

Communications, dissatisfaction on this account among telecom customers continued.

It was observed that the framework that had been put in place to curb UCC in 2007 had not been

effective to the desired levels and needed comprehensive revision.

Introduction of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR) 2010

Customer has the choice to opt for Full or Partial blocking of commercial communication - simple and quick procedure for registration

Preference categories – Banking/Finance; Real estate; Education; Health; Consumer Goods; Communication/entertainment and Tourism – only SMS for these categories allowed

Separate Number Series for Telemarketing calls and standardized format of promotional and transactional SMS headers – simplified telemarketer registration process

2-level DND scrubbing - both by the Telemarketer and the Access Provider - Shared database for simplified & effective scrubbing

Restraint on number of SMS per day per SIM to control SMS spam

Effective complaints redressal – reduced TAT, higher Operator ownership and centralized monitoring. Auto-generated email escalations for delay in complaint resolution.

Advance Security Deposit for registered telemarketers to cover for any future non-compliance, harsher consequences for unregistered telemarketers and Originating Access Providers

TCCCP Portal is the backbone of the TCCCPR...

The TCCCP Portal is a one-stop-shop for managing end-to-end customer and telemarketer registrations, database, complaints resolution, penalty & blacklisting

SMS Signature Solution – spam detection and control

Filters :1) Content Signature Analysis- xx SMS/hour 2) User Traffic Analysis- xx SMS/hr3) User Reputation Analysis 4) Content Matching - Keyword/phrase/Numbers 5) Call to action – basis defined Number,URL,Email ID6) Other need-based filters

Signatures creation :1) Online signature generation basis algorithms

defined in the system2) Offline signature generation from complaints data 3) Spam reviewed by Security Centre of the Solution

Provider globally

Signature sharing between Operators :Signature Solution providers across Operators creating common updated cartridge, capturing blocked signatures data from their respective operators, and releasing updated fingerprinting cartridge periodically.

Spam Detection Spam Control

Blocking :1) SMS matching any signature in fingerprint

cartridge with xx% similarity to be blocked 2) Restrict subscriber service basis reputation

thresholds across filters3) SMS containing defined keywords/phrases to be

blocked4) Multiple SMS from same source blocked as per

thresholds

Review

Reports :Review of spam blocking reports and UCC complaints for spam control effectiveness

Policy Review :Periodic review of filter thresholds, their effectiveness in control, revision in thresholds

Monitoring and timely interventions by TRAI - I

Issue Action taken vide Provided in the Amendment/Direction

Operational issues in implementation of

some provisions

01st – 05th Amendments

Dec’2010 – Mar’2011Extension of implementation dates

• Definition of transactional messages

• Query about 100 SMS per SIM

• Format of header of promotional SMS

06th Amendment dated

05th Sep’2011Clarification provided

• Promotional SMS termination charge

• Issues with complaint registration on

SMS

07th Amendment dated

25th Oct’2011

• INR 0.05 termination charge on all promotional SMS

• simplified complaint registration on SMS

• entity sending transactional message to enter into a

legal agreement with Service Provider

Review 100 SMS per SIM per day limit

08th Amendment dated

01st Nov’2011Limit of 100 SMS per SIM per day increased to 200 SMS per

SIM per day

UCC SMS from International routesDirection dated 20th

Jan’2012

• Block International SMS with alpha headers

• Block masked International SMS from +91 CLIs

Blacklisting registered telemarketers for

promotional and/or transactional

communication violation

09th Amendment dated

14th May’2012 Clarification provided

• SMS cap revoked causing huge spike in

complaints

• Issues with complaint registration

modes

10th Amendment dated

05th Nov’2012

• Price restraint on discounted SMS

• all operators to set-up network-level SMS Signature

solution

• complaint registration through web and email as well

Monitoring and timely interventions by TRAI - II

Issue Action taken vide Provided in the Amendment/Direction

• Operators sought clarity on definition

of SMS Signature

• Transactional SMS termination charge

11th Amendment dated

24th May’2013

• Definition of Signature modified and clarified

• Transactional SMS charge of INR 0.05 introduced

Further restraint on unregistered

telemarketers

12th Amendment dated

24th May’2013

• Disconnection on 1st validated complaint

• Blacklisting across service providers for 2 years

• Entities/beneficiaries outsourcing bulk

SMS marketing to unregistered

telemarketers

• Operators found deficient in their

verification processes allowing

unregistered telemarketing to flourish

13th Amendment dated

22nd Aug’2013

• Provision for disconnection of entity/beneficiary

• Disconnection of call back numbers in the SMS

• Financial Disincentive on Operators for failing to prevent

origination of UCC on their network

• Nodal Officers appointed by all Banks and Insurance Cos

for corrective action

Registration fee and security deposit were

viewed to be a deterrent to registered

telemarketing

14th Amendment dated

03rd Dec’2013

• Registration fee and security deposit halved

• Registration validity raised from 03 to 05 years

• Large scale disconnection of telecom

resources of entities and beneficiaries

• Representations and assurances from

Banks, Insurance and Real Estate Cos

15th Amendment dated

07th Apr’2014

Restoration of telecom resources disconnected under

provisions of 13th Amendment on satisfactory representation,

undertaking and payment of reconnection charge @ INR 500

per resource.

Request from stakeholders to allow 2-way

communication for transactional

messages

16th Amendment dated

10th Dec’2014

• 2-way transactional messages permitted using 5-digit

short code beginning with “5”

• Security Deposit and Penalty for violations twice than that

for registered telemarketers

Complaints trend with TCCCPR milestones

0

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

40,000

45,000

Jan

-10

Mar

-10

May

-10

Jul-

10

Sep

-10

No

v-1

0

Jan

-11

Mar

-11

May

-11

Jul-

11

Sep

-11

No

v-1

1

Jan

-12

Mar

-12

May

-12

Jul-

12

Sep

-12

No

v-1

2

Jan

-13

Mar

-13

May

-13

Jul-

13

Sep

-13

No

v-1

3

Jan

-14

Mar

-14

May

-14

Jul-

14

Sep

-14

No

v-1

4

Jan

-15

Mar

-15

May

-15

Jul-

15

Sep

-15

No

v-1

5

Jan

-16

Co

mp

lain

ts

Month

Dec’10 – TCCCPR 2010 announced

Nov’12 – Cap on discounted SMS and Signature Solution announced in TCCCPR

Aug-Sep’13 – SMS Signature Solution deployed in airtel network & Operator Penalty introduced

Sep’11 – cap of 100 SMS/day/SIM implemented

Jul'12 - 100 SMS cap withdrawn

• Provisions in TUCCR 2007 were found to be inadequate to address the issue of UCC

• TCCCPR cap on 100 SMS/SIM/day was very effective, but was revoked for judicial reasons

• Price restraint on discounted SMS was the next big thing, and, finally, the implementation of Signature

Solution on SMS traffic proved to be the most effective tool

• Complaints have since been keeping low, leading to higher consumer satisfaction

Learnings

• Constant monitoring, early identification of spam trends and timely intervention by the TRAI has been the key to the success of TCCCPR.

Regular monitoring & quick reaction by the

Regulator

• One of the major contributors in the success of the TCCCPR has been the consultative and cooperative approach adopted by the TRAI in taking the Service Providers together at every step.

Consultation and collaboration

• Customer-centricity has been the focus of this joint effort.

• Transparency and availability of information have done well for the consumer confidence.

Customer-centricity

Airtel initiatives

Comprehensive analysis to identify spam, and mass disconnection of potential spammers

Disciplinary action against Sales Channels involved in activation of potential spammers disconnected basis above investigations

Constant monitoring and early identification of changing trends in SMS spam

Blacklisting of repeatedly violating IMEIs on the network

Zero tolerance for unregistered telemarketing and lottery-related spam

Leveraging Anti-spam tool to block camouflaged transactional SMS spam

Provision in the Anti-spam tool for not just blocking spam SMS, but also the spammer MSISDNs

Way forward….

Comprehensive, analysis-based proactive action on voice spam

Leveraging the analysis-based solutions to combat the increasing menace of lottery/banking/credit card/insurance frauds

Curbing grey traffic both on voice and SMS

Thank you