JUDGMENT :

Prathiba M. Singh, J.

1. This hearing has been done through hybrid mode.

2. None appears for the Petitioner. The present petition has been filed by the Petitioner seeking directions in respect of the implementation of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (hereinafter, “TCCCPR”).

3. The grievance of the Petitioner is that this particular regulation was introduced on 19th July, 2018 by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The said regulations were the subject matter of WP(C) 3330/2020 titled ‘One97 Communications Limited and Anr. v. Union of India’, in which the ld. Division Bench, vide judgment dated 3rd February 2021, had directed that TRAI to ensure compliance and strict implementation of the provisions of the said regulations to curb unsolicited commercial communication sent over the respective networks of the telecom service providers. The relevant portion of the said judgement reads as:

5. In view of the above and in view of the limited submission made by learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioners, we hereby direct respondent No.2 to ensure compliance and strict implementation of the provisions of the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 and other related Regulations, issued from time to time, to curb unsolicited commercial communication sent over the respective networks of the telecom service providers.

6. We expect that in case of any violation, respondent No.2 shall take action against the violators in accordance with law, especially, the Regulations, 2018. We have also taken note of the fact that respondent Nos. 3 to 9/Access Providers are compliant with the provisions of the Regulations, 2018 and we expect that they shall continue to strictly comply with the provisions of the Regulations, 2018.

4. In the process of implementation of TCCCPR, the TRAI issued a press release bearing number 13/2021, dated 12th March, 2021 through which, certain further compliances were required to be completed by the Telecom Service Providers and Principal Entities. The same are contained in paragraph 2 of the said press release. The said press release reads as:

New Delhi, 09.03.2021- Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) is a major source of inconvenience to public and also impinges on the privacy of individuals. To curb the menace of UCC, TRAI has issued the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR, 2018") on 19th July, 2018, which put in place a framework for controlling UCC. The regulations entirely came into force w.e.f. 28.02.2019. The regulation provides for registration of senders, telemarketers, headers, content templates, consent templates, registration of fine-grained subscriber preference etc.

Thereafter, a direction under TCCCPR, 2018 was issued to all Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) on 20.01.2020 to take due measures for onboarding of senders of messages i.c. Principal Entitics (PES). TSPS published the requirements of a new regulatory framework in leading newspapers, from time to time, to inform all PEs to get onboarded. TSPs also notified telemarketers and principal entities regarding the implementation of content template scrubbing and other provisions of TCCCPR, 2018, from time to time.

It has been observed that some of the principal entities have not fulfilled the requirements as envisaged in Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR, 2018). As a result, their SMS were getting dropped after implementation of the scrubbing of SMS by Telecom Service Providers. In order to protect the interest of consumers, it has been decided that scrubbing of SMS by TSPS shall be suspended temporarily for seven days to enable the principal entities to register the template of SMS so that no inconvenience is faced by the customers.

TSPs are being requested to inform their principal entities to take immediate necessary action in this regard and facilitate their