Blockchain Will Stop Spam Calls In India; TRAI Proposes Mega-Blockchain Powered Campaign!

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India or TRAI has decided to unleash a major war against unwanted, spam calls from telemarketers.

And the first concrete step has been taken: Blockchain!

TRAI: We Will Use Blockchain To Stop Spam Calls!

TRAI has just released their draft of a consultation paper, titled “Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018”, which has proposed usage of blockchain based technologies to stop and check spam calls.

Once implemented, this promises a revolutionary solution to the age-old problem of spamming.

In fact, if approved, then TRAI will become one of the largest organizations to have successfully used blockchain, for any purpose.

Trai chairman RS Sharma said,

“We (Trai) are probably be the first organisation in the world to leverage blockchain on such a large scale. Indians send around 30 billion messages every month,”

How Will It Work?

As per the draft proposal, TRAI will record all the consents and approvals by customers related to accepting telemarketing calls and then create a massive database of this list.

And, a list would be created of approval telemarketers, who are eligible to make such calls.

Since blockchain is a distributed ledger, being updated in real-time, no party can deny the records.

Hence, if a customer who has opted out of the telemarketing calls gets such calls, then TRAI would be able to quickly identify the telemarketing agency which has made the call and levy a fine on them.

In such cases, the concerned telemarketing agency won’t have an excuse.

Trai secretary SK Gupta said,

“The new norms will give access to only authorised agencies and only at the time when they need to deliver service. Also, details of only those subscribers will be given who have agreed to receive such calls and messages.”

TRAI is also planning a new app, through which a customer can revoke or activate their consent related to telemarketing calls, at any given time.

Before that, TRAI is planning to form a massive database of telemarketing agencies, which are involved in the marketing of products and services and keep the record on blockchain for authentication and verification.

This is not the first time that TRAI has taken any proactive step to safeguard consumers from unwanted spam calls.

In 2012, TRAI made strict regulations to curb this practice, and then in 2013, announced penalty of Rs 5000 per spam SMS.

In 2016, TRAI also launched a DnD app to block spammy calls, but it seems that telemarketers and spammers are always able to find a way.

Will blockchain be the ultimate spam-blocker?

Do share your views on the new consultation paper with TRAI before June 11, and help them to create a spam-free telecom industry!

Here is the consultation paper: Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018