The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has now taken a strict step to curb fake SMS and phishing activities. TRAI has instructed all telecom companies in the country that ‘variable components’ present in all SMS templates sent for commercial communication must now be pre-tagged. This rule will specifically target unregistered links and fraud call-back numbers that fraudsters use to trap common people. Companies have been given 60 days to implement this rule. If you are also among those who receive fake SMS messages all day long in the name of some bank, financial service, or online shopping company, and you ignore them for fear of fraud, then this is a piece of relieving news for you. What is TRAI’s new ‘pre-tagging’ rule? TRAI’s new rule primarily concerns dynamic content used in SMS templates. Variable components refer to parts of the message that can change for each receiver. For example… Under the new rule, the Principal Entity (PE) sending the message, i.e., the company sending the message, must specify what will appear in the variable field when registering the template. For example, if a URL is to appear there, it must be explicitly tagged as #url#. If a number is to appear, it will be mandatory to tag it as #number#. How will fraud be curbed? Previously, these variable fields were not tagged, which fraudsters directly exploited. They would secretly insert malicious links or numbers in approved message templates, in the name of a bank or government scheme, which helped them commit financial fraud. Since these fields had no identification, i.e., tagging, telecom providers could not identify them. Now, after pre-tagging, access providers, i.e., telecom companies, will be able to automatically identify these fields and investigate them. This will enable them to determine whether the inserted link or number is from whitelisted domains or numbers. If it is contrary to the tag or is a fraudulent link, the message will be blocked immediately. TRAI has clarified that this step will further strengthen the anti-spam and anti-fraud framework. Companies will have to make changes within 60 days TRAI has given access providers and principal entities a 60-day grace period to make necessary changes to their existing SMS templates. This means that if a company has millions of old templates approved, they will have to update them according to this new pre-tagging rule within 60 days. After this compliance window expires, if any message is sent using a non-compliant template, the telecom company will reject it and the message will not reach the customer. This is a direct challenge for those who send fraudulent messages. Trust in Digital Communication Will Increase Again This new rule further strengthens TRAI’s Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR) 2018, which aims to completely stop unauthorized commercial communication. TRAI believes that this initiative will enhance public safety and restore people’s trust in digital messaging channels. These channels are very important for communication in banking, financial services, government, and other essential services. Now, every variable field will be validated before transmission, which will almost eliminate the possibility of fraud.
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