TRAI launches pilot project for digital consent management

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Monday has launched a pioneering pilot project in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and select banks to tackle the persistent issue of spam calls and messages. A government press release said, this initiative aims to establish a robust digital consent management system under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018. TRAI has noted a surge in consumer complaints about unsolicited commercial communications from businesses claiming prior consent. Often, these consents are obtained through offline or unverifiable methods, raising concerns about misrepresentation, deception, or unauthorized data sharing. To address this, TRAI has introduced a framework requiring businesses to acquire and register consumer consent digitally in a secure, interoperable registry maintained by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs).
The pilot project, launched under a Regulatory Sandbox framework, prioritizes the banking sector due to the sensitivity of financial transactions and the prevalence of spam-related fraud. On June 13, 2025, TRAI issued a directive to all TSPs, mandating their collaboration with banks to test the Consent Registration Function (CRF). This initiative will validate the operational, technical, and regulatory aspects of the system, paving the way for a nationwide rollout across various sectors. TRAI’s efforts build on previous measures to curb spam, including enabling complaint registration against unregistered telemarketers (UTMs) without prior Do Not Disturb (DND) registration and disconnecting telecom resources misused for spamming. The new digital consent framework aims to enhance transparency and verifiability, ensuring only legitimate communications reach consumers.