The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Monday raised concerns over the telecom regulator’s new anti-spam rules, criticising the sharp rise in penalties imposed on telecom service providers (TSPs) while leaving Over-the-Top (OTT) communication platforms unregulated.

The COAI argued that despite telecom operators implementing extensive measures to curb spam, unsolicited commercial communications (UCC) have surged, largely shifting to OTT messaging apps, which have led to a rise in financial fraud, COAI director-general S.P. Kochhar said.

The industry body took issue with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai) decision to significantly increase financial penalties on telecom firms.

The COAI contended that these penalties are misplaced since telecom providers merely act as intermediaries, while the actual source of spam lies with the telemarketers and principal entities that originate commercial communications.

“Financial Disincentives (FDs) imposed on TSPs do not serve any purpose and have repeatedly failed to address UCC in Trai’s previous attempts. Instead, penalties should be directed at telemarketers or principal entities responsible for originating and benefiting from such communications,” the COAI said.

The association also criticized Trai’s amendments to the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018, which aim to strengthen consumer protection against UCC.The COAI said these changes were implemented without addressing key industry concerns, particularly the lack of regulations for delivery telemarketers, who play a central role in spam communications.