Telcos vs OTT apps: Trai's spam rules spark row with Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea

New Delhi: Telecom operators and mobile application makers clashed over the jurisdiction of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on over-the-top communication apps in controlling spam calls.

Telcos such as Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea as well as the Cellular Operators Association of India were united in their demand of a level playing field, stating that communication apps such as WhatsApp and Telegram must be brought under the same regulatory scrutiny as SMS and voice calls.

Trai had proposed to regulate call-management apps such as Truecaller, prohibiting them from tagging or blocking incoming calls from commercial 140 and 160-series numbers as spam. The regulator also proposed mandating sharing of user-generated spam reports to Trai's Do-not-disturb (DND) registry.


Telcos said Trai needs to widen its jurisdiction over communication apps too.

The changes were proposed in a draft of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Third Amendment) Regulations, 2026. Trai had invited stakeholder comments on the draft.

App developers such as Truecaller and industry associations including the Broadband India Forum (BIF) strongly opposed Trai's proposal, calling it a regulatory overreach. They also said that they were already regulated by the electronics and information technology ministry under the IT Act, which gives them safe harbour protections as an intermediary.

They added that crowdsourced user feedback, algorithms and databases compiled by OTT platforms are valuable proprietary assets and trade secrets developed through significant investment. Forcing them to share such data with the government without compensation is deemed unconstitutional taking of private property, the app developers said.

Both telcos and app developers, however, welcomed Trai's proposal to introduce deterrent charges to discourage automated calling attempts.