TRAI blocked over 1.24 lakh telecom connections and blacklisted 374 entities between July and September 2026, intensifying its nationwide campaign against spam calls and unsolicited messages.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has intensified its efforts to control spam calls and unsolicited commercial communications across the country. During July-September 2026, the regulator took action against more than 1.24 lakh telecom resources and blacklisted 374 entities for violating unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) regulations.
According to TRAI's quarterly report for the second quarter of 2026-27, these measures aim to protect mobile subscribers from unwanted promotional calls and messages and improve compliance among telecom service providers and commercial communication entities.
TRAI's enforcement data revealed that 110,325 telecom resources, including mobile numbers, were restricted from making outgoing calls and messages for 15 days following their first violation.
Meanwhile, 13,777 telecom resources were disconnected for one year after being identified as repeat offenders. The regulator also blocked 3,725 SMS headers and blacklisted 374 senders for 12 months. During the blacklisting period, these entities will not be permitted to obtain fresh telecom resources.
These actions reflect the regulator's continued efforts to prevent the misuse of telecom networks for unsolicited commercial communication.
During the July-September quarter, TRAI received approximately 15.29 lakh complaints related to unsolicited commercial communications. Of these, around 7.23 lakh complaints were identified as actionable and required enforcement-related attention.
The complaints came despite the massive volume of telecom traffic generated across India. During the quarter, telecom networks handled 714.01 billion outgoing calls and 702.28 billion SMS messages.
According to the report, spam complaints accounted for approximately 2.14 per million outgoing calls.
The TRAI Do Not Disturb (DND) App continued to be the most widely used platform for reporting unwanted commercial communications.
The application received approximately 14.21 lakh complaints during the quarter, accounting for 92.9% of all complaints registered with the regulator. By September 30, 2026, the application had recorded 42.36 lakh downloads.
The regulator is encouraging consumers to use the application to report unwanted calls and messages and help authorities identify entities violating commercial communication regulations.
Artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in identifying suspicious telecom activities.
According to TRAI, AI-powered systems deployed by telecom operators identified approximately 19.9 billion incoming calls and SMS messages as suspected spam during the quarter.
This included 18.28 billion calls and 1.62 billion SMS messages.
Telecom operators also issued more than 45.9 lakh warning notifications to entities suspected of sending unsolicited communications. Additionally, they completed electronic Know Your Customer (e-KYC) verification for 34,025 suspected senders.
Of these, 9,977 entities were disconnected after failing to meet the required KYC verification standards.
To help consumers identify different types of commercial communications, TRAI has introduced dedicated mobile numbering series.
The 140 series is reserved for promotional and telemarketing calls, allowing subscribers to distinguish marketing communications from regular calls.
The 1600 series is designated for service and transactional calls made by organisations in banking, financial services and insurance, along with government-to-citizen communications.
Furthermore, TRAI introduced the separate 1601 series on August 10, 2026, for service and transactional calls from utility providers, logistics companies and delivery services.
These numbering arrangements are intended to improve transparency and help consumers make informed decisions about answering incoming calls.
TRAI's report also highlighted the scale of commercial communication activity across telecom networks.
During the quarter, approximately 15.27 billion promotional calls originated through the 140 numbering series. After checking registered Do Not Disturb preferences, telecom operators blocked around 1.70 billion calls.
Registered telemarketers also sent approximately 660.71 billion commercial SMS messages. Of these, 11.09 billion promotional messages were blocked following verification against consumers' registered communication preferences.
As of September 30, 2026, approximately 22.449 crore mobile subscribers had registered their communication preferences on TRAI's DND registry.
This represented 16.64% of India's total subscriber base of approximately 134.9 crore.
However, more than 112 crore subscribers had not registered their preferences. Consequently, they remained accessible to commercial communications from registered senders and telemarketers, subject to applicable regulations.
The figures highlight the importance of increasing consumer participation in the DND registry to reduce unwanted promotional communications.
Alongside enforcement measures, TRAI continued its consumer awareness initiatives to educate subscribers about spam prevention and complaint reporting.
During the quarter, the regulator conducted awareness campaigns through television, radio, newspapers and social media platforms.
It also organised 322 physical consumer awareness programmes, attracting approximately 31,000 participants. Additionally, more than 3 billion SMS messages were sent to consumers to encourage downloads and usage of the TRAI DND App.
TRAI prepares its quarterly enforcement report using information submitted by telecom service providers.
Conclusion
TRAI's latest enforcement figures highlight its growing focus on controlling spam calls and unsolicited messages in India. With over 1.24 lakh telecom resources restricted, AI-based spam detection and dedicated numbering series, the regulator is strengthening consumer protection. However, greater participation in the DND registry and continued awareness will remain important for making telecom communication safer and more transparent.