Telecom operators flag 24.4 billion spam calls, messages in April-June: TRAI

Telecom operators flagged 24.4 billion calls and messages as suspected spam during April-June, as India's fight against unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) intensified, according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

AI-based systems deployed by telecom operators identified 22.9 billion incoming calls and 1.4 billion SMSes as suspected spam during the quarter, equivalent to around 266 million communications a day. About 3.2% of all incoming calls were identified as suspected spam.

TRAI said telecom operators are using AI-based systems to analyse calling patterns and identify suspicious activity. Operators have also started sending warnings to entities identified as likely spammers.


Despite the increased use of technology to identify and block spam, consumer complaints continued to rise during the quarter.

TRAI received 10.8 lakh unsolicited commercial communication complaints between April and June, of which 5.5 lakh were actionable, the regulator said.

The quarterly complaint count was nearly 40% higher than the average recorded during 2025. TRAI received nearly 31 lakh UCC complaints during the entire calendar year 2025, putting the latest quarterly figure at more than a third of last year's total.

The numbers highlight the complexity of India's spam problem. While telecom operators are increasingly able to identify suspicious traffic and regulatory enforcement against offenders has intensified, consumers continue to report high levels of unwanted communication.

The majority of complaints during the quarter were filed through TRAI's Do Not Disturb (DND) app.

Nearly 89% of complaints, or 9.6 lakh, were registered through the app. Its cumulative downloads rose to 33.1 lakh by June, from nearly 28 lakh at the end of 2025.

The regulator has been encouraging consumers to report unsolicited commercial communications through the DND platform, allowing complaints to be used for enforcement action against repeat offenders.

Of the 10.8 lakh complaints received during April-June, 5.5 lakh were classified as actionable, suggesting that a significant proportion did not meet the criteria required for regulatory action.

Enforcement against entities violating telecom regulations also intensified during the quarter.

TRAI said 1.3 lakh telecom resources were barred for 15 days for first-time violations. Another 46,786 telecom resources were disconnected for one year for repeated violations.

The regulator also blacklisted 263 senders and blocked 2,873 SMS headers during the quarter.

Telecom resources can include numbers and other resources used to send commercial communications. Blocking or disconnecting these resources is part of TRAI's effort to prevent repeat offenders from continuing to use telecom networks for unsolicited communication.

The increased enforcement comes as operators and regulators increasingly rely on automated systems to detect suspicious calling and messaging patterns.

AI-based detection allows telecom operators to analyse large volumes of traffic and identify patterns that may indicate spam or fraudulent activity. However, the continued rise in consumer complaints suggests that detection and enforcement have not yet been sufficient to reduce the volume of unwanted communication reaching users.

For consumers, the DND app remains one of the main channels for reporting such communication, while the regulator's latest data indicates that the fight against telecom spam is increasingly becoming a combination of AI-led detection, consumer reporting and regulatory enforcement.

(With inputs from TOI)