Online transactions likely to be affected by TRAI new guidelines from November 1; check rules here

Telecom operators have raised concerns over new instructions by the telecom regulator, which is likely to affect the delivery of important service messages, including one-time passwords (OTPs) for online transactions, from November 1, reported the news portal NDTV on Saturday, October 26.

The guidelines state that telecom operators must ensure that messages sent from the Principal Entities (PEs) to customers can be tracked. The new rules will come into effect on November 1, reported the news portal.

The concerns over the guidelines from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) focus on customers who may potentially face difficulty with services like online payments, delivery of parcels, etc, as transactions are linked with OTPs, as per the report.

The TRAI guidelines will be applicable across categories, including banks, e-commerce platforms and financial institutions. The portal also reported that this means any messages with mismatched sender details or without a clear sender identity will be blocked.

The news portal Economic Times reported that the telecom providers have raised concerns over the implementation of new guidelines as the telemarketers and PEs do not have the necessary technology to follow the new rule, as per the report.

The telecom companies have asked the regulator to extend the deadline by a minimum of two months, according to the report.

OTPs play a major role in securing online transactions and ensuring that only authorised personnel can make the payments. As per the news portal's report, preparations are underway to introduce an alternative safety measure to prevent fraud. 

Request for more time

Telecom operators informed TRAI that the telemarketers and PEs are lagging and require additional time to ensure appropriate scrubbing of the messaging traffic to minimise any disruption. The telcos told TRAI that their system was ready for the November 1 deadline, according to the report.

The telecom industry has asked TRAI to allow them to put the mandate into “logger mode” beginning November 1, allowing messages to flow without disruption in the event of discrepancies, said the report.

The telcos have committed to sending daily reports to the telemarketers and PEs. They are estimating the guidelines to be fully implemented by 1 December, according to the report.

This development comes as the second time the telecom industry has requested a one-month extension to adhere to the regulator's guidelines. In response to the telcos' request for additional time to set up necessary systems, the regulator had earlier extended the deadline for whitelisting messages, including URLs, OTT links and other related information, by one month, to October 1. After the extension, most of the PEs and telemarketers have come on board with the systems operating smoothly, according to the report.