Mint Explainer: Why Trai's anti-spam measures have raised misplaced concerns over delayed OTPs

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s telecom regulator has tightened regulations to counter spam and unsolicited messages. One measure is mandating the traceability of commercial messages from senders.

This led to speculation that OTPs, or one-time passwords, could get delayed and adversely affect transactions initiated by consumers such as bank transfers and online payments. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has clarified that the issue will not arise. On Saturday, it extended the 1 December deadline to implement the measure to 11 December.

Will OTPs still get affected? Mint explains. In August, Trai mandated that all message trails must be traceable from 1 November 2024. This move is aimed at enhancing accountability by tracking the origin of messages.

To allow for technical upgrades and declarations by principal entities (PEs) and telemarketers (TMs), Trai gave them time till 30 November. PEs are entities that send commercial messages to telecom subscribers, and they include banks, financial institutions, insurance companies, trading companies, and businesses. On Saturday, Trai extended this deadline to 10 December.

This means that from 11 December, the traceability requirements kick in. Apart from telcos, Trai is working with central and state governments departments, and entities regulated by the Reserve Bank of India, Securities and Exchange Board of India, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India to raise awareness. Trai has clarified that message traceability is not intended to disrupt non-spam messages.