The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has updated that all telecom service providers (TSPs) have successfully implemented the promotional (‘P’), service-related (‘S’), transactional (‘T’) and government (‘G’) communications suffix system on SMS headers, as mandated by the Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR) vide its Amendment to the TCCCP Regulation dated February 12, 2025.

This implementation has enhanced transparency and consumer protection as such categorisation enables subscribers to easily identify the nature of incoming messages, reducing spam, strengthening compliance, and improving overall trust and convenience for users.

The multiple benefits brought forth by the system include:

  • Enhanced transparency: Users can easily identify and differentiate promotional, service-related, transactional and government messages at a glance.
  • Reduction in spam and unsolicited messages: Clearly marking promotional messages (‘P’) and thus, helping subscribers avoid unwanted marketing communication, effectively reducing spam.
  • Improved consumer protection: Customers can readily identify genuine transactional (‘T’) and service-related (‘S’) messages, reducing the likelihood of fraud or scams.
  • Effective regulatory compliance: Enables regulatory authorities to easily monitor, track and enforce compliance by distinguishing between message types.
  • Increased trust and confidence: Clear categorisation assures users of message authenticity, particularly for critical transactional (‘T’) and government (‘G’) communications.
  • Better user experience: Simplified recognition and categorisation of messages improves consumer convenience and satisfaction.

Overall, this structured approach promotes a safer, more reliable and consumer-friendly communication ecosystem. At the same time though, the concerns persist regarding the use of over-the-top (OTT) communication services for increasing spam and fraud messages, as the success of any consent framework or spam mitigation measure is incomplete if large parts of the communication ecosystem remain unregulated. This regulatory gap is increasingly being exploited, with a growing share of scams and unsolicited promotions now originating on OTT apps, adding to customer woes.

Moreover, this creates an uneven playing field between the TSPs and the OTT communication services, raising privacy, traceability and national security concerns. Further, COAI maintains that bridging this loophole through a unified consent management framework that brings all platforms, including OTTs, under its purview is critical to protect consumers and ensure consistency across the ecosystem.”