India's Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI) on Tuesday ordered telecom companies to stop calls from unregistered telemarketers – and bar them from using networks again for up to two years – as part of an effort to curb spam and fraud.
How to torture telemarketers in a word
"This decisive action by TRAI is expected to significantly reduce spam calls and provide relief to consumers," a statement [PDF] from the regulator explained.
As many sources of spam and scam calls target both India's domestic market and offshore entities, this move could bode well for Reg readers around the world.
When a telco bans a telemarketer for breaking the rules, they must share the information with other telcos within 24 hours on a DLT (distributed ledger technology) platform.
