The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (‘TRAI’) has issued directions to curb misuse of message templates by entities sending Short Message Service (‘SMS’) commercial messages to telecom subscribers (‘Principal Entities’) on May 12, 2023 (‘Directions’). The Directions are issued under the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulation, 2018 (‘TCCCPR’), to all access providers regarding measures.
The Directions require access providers to restrict Principal Entities to have more than three variables in the content templates. Any exception to this restriction can be allowed by access providers only in special circumstances and subject to conditions prescribed in the Directions. The access providers are also directed to update their Code of Practice (‘COP’) within 15 days from the date of issue of the Directions and report compliance within 45 days.