advice to telemarketers | Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Registered and Unregistered Telemarketers

"Registered Telemarketer (RTM)" is one who is registered with the access provider(s) and engaged in the activity of transmission or delivery of commercial communication or scrubbing or aggregation.

"Unregistered Telemarketer" (UTM) means any Sender of commercial communication who is not registered for the purpose of telemarketing with the access provider(s);

Roles of Telemarketers

1) Telemarketers for Delivery Function of Messages with telecom resource connectivity to Access Provider (TM-DF)

● to carry out delivery function
● insert its Unique identity with delivery processing reference number along with identity through which scrubbing was carried out;
● authenticate source of the messages submitted for delivery by header assignee or by aggregator and ensure their identity is part of content of message for traceability;
● maintain with minimum performance requirements as specified;
● perform any other function and keep other relevant details which may be required for carrying out pre and post checks for regulatory compliance

2) Telemarketers for Aggregation Function for messages to other Telemarketer for delivery function (TM-AF) to

● carry out aggregation function;
● keep record of all numbers aggregated for complaints resolution and traceability;
● authenticate source of the messages submitted for delivery by header assignee or by aggregator and ensure their identity is part of content of message for traceability;
● maintain with minimum performance requirements as specified;
● perform any other function and keep other relevant details which may be required for carrying out pre and post checks for regulatory compliance

3) Telemarketer for voice calling function with Telecom Resource Connectivity for voice calls to Access Provider (TM-VCF) to

● to carry out voice calling function;
● take necessary measures to protect Preference Register and Consent Register data during voice calling, e.g. using virtual identities to make voice calls on a secure Internet Protocol (IP) based Virtual Private Networks (VPN) with OAP and not disclosing real identities to any other entities than authorized to know it;
● take initiatives to enable calling name display (CNAM) based on Intelligent Network or ISDN based protocols, enhanced calling name (eCNAM) functionality as defined in 3GPP technical specifications TS 24.196 for providing services to terminating user with the name associated with the originating user and optionally delivering metadata about that originating user;
● maintain with minimum performance requirements as specified;
● perform any other function and keep other relevant details which may be required for carrying out pre and post checks for regulatory compliance;

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT)?

Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT) means a set of technological solutions that enables a single, sequenced, standardized and cryptographically-secured record of activities to be safely distributed to, and acted upon, by a network of varied participants and their database can be spread across multiple sites or institutions; records are stored one after the other in a continuous ledger and can only be added when the participants reach a consensus.
What is a header?

Header means an alphanumeric string of maximum eleven characters or numbers assigned to an individual, business or legal entity under these regulations to send commercial communications.
Whether header registration is mandatory for making communication of commercial nature?

Yes, as per the new regulatory framework, any commercial communication may only take place using registered header(s) assigned to the sender(s) for the purpose of commercial communication.
What are Promotional messages or promotional voice calls?

Promotional messages or promotional voice call means commercial communication message or voice call for which the sender has not taken any explicit consent from the intended Recipient to send such messages.
What is a Service message or Service Call?

Service message or Service Call means a message sent to a recipient or voice call made to recipient either with his consent or using a template registered for the purpose, the primary purpose of which is

● to facilitate, complete, or confirm a commercial transaction that the recipient has previously consented to enter into with the sender; or

● to provide warranty information, product recall information, safety or security information with respect to a commercial product or service used or purchased by the recipient