Disruption of critical SMSes as second phase SMS regulation kicks in

Massive disruption has been caused in delivering SMSes, especially critical ones like OTPs from banks and e-commerce companies. Even Aadhar authentication service has collapsed. This is all happening due to the second phase implementation of SMS regulation, according to a report by The Economic Times.

However, telecom operators while defending their system have pinned the blame on companies and their lax adoption, who have failed to comply with regulatory standards.

A top executive from a leading telemarketing firm told ET that officials from top banks such as HDFC and SBI are furious and trying to get in touch with TRAI (telecom regulatory authority of India), to sort this mess at the earliest. The executive said that 50 percent of the traffic is being dropped due to content scrubbing.

According to TRAI’s regulation on unsolicited commercial communication, content scrubbing is the process where telecos verify every SMS content with a registered template before delivering it. It was activated on March 8 at 12 AM, after multiple delays.

Telecom operators say the onus lies on telemarketers and individual businesses to comply with the standards if they wish their services should continue.

A senior telecom executive claims that they have done their part and activated the due process of content scrubbing. Despite giving abundant time to companies, if they are still cribbing about not being prepared, it is not our fault, the executive said, as quoted by ET.

Earlier in January, it was reported that telecom companies will start filtering commercial SMSes with unregistered content in a bid to check the flow of spam messages.

Thus, entities with unique header IDs (e.g. AX-TITAN) on the telcos’ distributor ledger technology (DLT) platform have time till January 31 to submit templates of all possible content they wish to send customers.

Thereafter, telcos will block commercial SMSes originating from unregistered headers or whose content does not match filed templates. This is part of the sector’s second phase of blockchain implementation aimed at controlling spam messages. Money Control News