Trai directs service providers to stop spam calls, blacklist callers

BENGALURU: India's telecom watchdog on Tuesday directed service providers to stop all promotional calls from unregistered callers and blacklist them as it looks to tackle a surge in spam and phishing calls that has seen people lose millions of rupees.

The government has been looking to clamp down on the spike in such calls including those where scammers pose as representatives of firms like FedEx and Blue Dart and extract sensitive financial information by sending phishing links in the pretext of retrieving lost packages.

"All promotional voice calls from the unregistered senders/unregistered telemarketer using Telecom Resources shall be stopped immediately," the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in a statement shared by the government.