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Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Consumer interest at the forefront of TRAI's amended TCCCPR
In a bid to further safeguard consumers, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( TRAI ) has announced significant changes to the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations, 2018 (TCCCPR) through the Second Amendment Regulations, 2025. The reforms aim to strengthen consumer protection against Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC), streamline the complaint redressal mechanism, and plug regulatory gaps that have allowed telemarketing misuse in the past. Key Focus: Empowering Consumers in a Digital-First Era At the core of these amendments lies enhanced consumer autonomy. A landmark shift is the removal of mandatory preference registration for filing spam complaints. Now, consumers can report UCC against a very simple process, where they only provide some basic details such as their number, sender's number, date of receipt, and a short description of the message. It's worth noting that the complaint window has also been extended from 3 to 7 days, this will provide more time to consumers for acting. Access providers (APs) must now act within 5 days, down from 30, making the redressal process significantly more responsive. Repeat violations by senders can result in blacklisting, telecom service disconnection for up to a year, and even device blocking—a major deterrent to habitual spammers. Moreover, consumers no longer need to navigate a separate preference management system. All promotional communications must now include a clear opt-out mechanism, ensuring control lies with the recipient at every stage. New Safeguards Around Consent Further ensuring the power remains with the consumer, the amendments introduce consent expiry timelines, addressing the misuse of outdated permissions. Consent for one-time transactions lapses in 7 days, and service-related communications are valid only during the contract period. Post opt-out, a cooling period of 90 days prevents senders from soliciting renewed consent, although consumers can voluntarily opt-in again. Furthermore, disclosures around automated tools like auto-diallers and robocalls are now mandatory, ensuring transparency. Message headers are now standardised with suffixes like '-P' for promotional, '-S' for service, '-T' for transactional, and '-G' for government, giving consumers clear visibility on the nature of incoming communications. Strengthening the Commercial Communications Ecosystem To deter fraudulent actors and strengthen regulatory oversight, TRAI has also focused on ecosystem-level interventions. Access providers are now obligated to monitor suspicious patterns using tools like: Pattern analysis based on call volumes and ratiosHoneypot numbers to detect emerging UCC trendsBiometric authentication and physical verification of telemarketers The updated norms restrict the use of regular 10-digit numbers for commercial messages. Instead, communications must come from designated series—140-series for promotional calls and a new 1600-series for transactional and service calls—enabling consumers to distinguish between genuine and fraudulent messages more easily. To enhance traceability, intermediary layers between Principal Entities and telemarketers have been restricted, ensuring a clear accountability trail. All senders must now self-certify registration data annually, and any unused or fraudulent headers are subject to immediate deletion and action. Holding Access Providers Accountable Moving to the other side of the spectrum, the repercussions are now severe for APs and scammers. Access Providers now play a frontline role in enforcement. Penalties for non-compliance are stringent, with fines of: ₹2 lakh for a first violation₹5 lakh for a second₹10 lakh for further breaches APs are also empowered to collect security deposits from telemarketers, which are forfeited upon violations, further tightening compliance. Importantly, penalties apply not just to spam-senders, but also to misreporting of complaints, invalid closures, and non-compliance with header and template registration norms by APs. Challenges in Implementation Despite the comprehensive nature of the amendments, the implementation is currently faced with hurdles: Digital Literacy: Many consumers may still be unaware of their rights or lack the digital literacy to navigate complaint platforms efficiently. Inter-Operator Coordination: Blacklisting and service disconnections require seamless cooperation between multiple access providers and regulators. Consent Platform Onboarding: Bringing all senders—especially in the government and financial sectors—onto the digital consent acquisition system will demand extensive alignment. AI-based Spam Evasion: Spammers increasingly use AI-driven tactics to evade detection. While pattern recognition systems and honeypots offer strong defence, AI-based detection and filtering systems will need to evolve in parallel. A joint committee of sectoral regulators is already working on implementation strategies for the 1600-series, and on enhancing the digital consent acquisition framework. Their efforts also include blocking fraudulent IMEIs, eliminating unused headers, and detecting scam behaviour early on. The Road Ahead TRAI's 2025 amendments are a progressive evolution of its 2018 regulatory framework. By simplifying complaint procedures, enhancing transparency, enforcing stricter penalties, and holding telecom players accountable, the amendments place consumer rights at the centre of India's communications ecosystem. However, the efficacy of these reforms will ultimately depend on how efficiently the ecosystem adapts—from awareness-building campaigns and real-time monitoring, to embracing AI-powered enforcement that can evolve as quickly as the spam tactics it seeks to counter. As the battle against UCC continues, TRAI's amended TCCCPR serve as a timely and robust reset, reminding stakeholders that responsible communication and consumer consent must remain non-negotiable pillars of India's digital future. (DISCLAIMER: Views expressed are the author's personal.)
Indian Express
29-04-2025
- Health
- Indian Express
India: A Growth Frontier for Sustainable Palm Oil By Dr. Puah Chiew Wei
India is the most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 1.46 billion people. The rapid population growth presents significant opportunities for potential growth, particularly in the demand for both food and non-food products across the nation. Thus, it is essential to develop strategies and policies through a holistic and comprehensive approach to ensure security in both food and non-food sectors including energy. In the food sector, edible oils are a staple in the Indian diet, commonly used for cooking, frying and food processing. However, India relies heavily on imports of edible oils to meet its growing demand taking into consideration the domestic production can only satisfy a fraction of the total need, resulting in India becoming the largest importer of edible oils in the world and the top importer of palm oil. Palm oil plays a crucial role in supporting the demand for edible oil in India as it is the most widely produced edible oil in the world, accounts for about 35% of global vegetable oils production. The unique properties of palm oil make it a functional oil in various food applications and a valuable ingredient for the food industry because it enables an enormous range of manufacturing processes at no health risk to consumers. Palm oil has better oxidative stability and is resistant to the formation of oxidised polymers, making it the preferred choice for cooking oil in India. One of the health-related concerning palm oil in India is associated with the claim that palm oil is unhealthy due to its high level of saturated fatty acids. This claim is misleading and creating negative image for palm oil as a food source and food ingredient. Palm oil contains a balanced proportion of unsaturated and saturated fatty acids at about 50% each. Studies showed that palm oil behaves more like a monounsaturated fat and has no adverse impact on blood cholesterol levels. In addition, scientific evidence has confirmed that moderate consumption of palm oil is no worse than other cooking oils. More importantly, palm oil does not require hydrogenation for use as a fat component in food, avoiding the formation of trans fatty acids which have been proven to have detrimental effects on health. The Food Safety and Standards (Prohibition and Restrictions on Sales) Second Amendment Regulations, 2021 of India stipulated that all food products in which edible oils and fats are used as an ingredient should not contain industrial trans fatty acids more than 2% (by mass) of the total oils/fats present in the product, on and from 1 January 2022. Therefore, palm oil and its products are good alternatives to replace trans fatty acids for formulation of trans fatty acids-free food products. Red palm oil, which is commercially available, is rich in phytonutrients, including carotenoids, tocols (tocopherols and tocotrienols), phytosterols and squalene which have gained significant attention due to their nutritional benefits. It is the richest natural source of carotenoids, particularly alpha- and beta-carotene, biologically active pro-vitamin A and a powerful antioxidant. Palm oil also contains tocotrienols, antioxidants that are several times more potent than tocopherols and have been proven scientifically to possess anti-inflammatory and cholesterol-lowering properties. Therefore, the consumption of nutritious red palm oil can provide beneficial antioxidants to the Indian population, supporting better overall health. Palm oil is also an important raw material for non-food applications due to its versatility. Oleochemicals industry is one of the industries that relies on the use of palm oil as raw materials in a wide range of industrial and consumer products to replace petroleum-based chemicals. The physical and chemical properties of palm-based oleochemicals enable the manufacturing and production of many products such as personal care products and household products. The growing demand driven by consumers' increasing preference for 'natural' products will support the use of palm-based oleochemicals which are renewable and biodegradable alternative to petroleum-based chemicals. The demand for oleochemicals in India is expected to grow in tandem with the positive economic growth and socio-economic development. Palm oil is also the most widely used feedstock for the production of biodiesel, with the share of about 32% of the global production. This reflected its crucial role in supporting global energy security. It is therefore important for India to leverage on the use of palm oil as a renewable and sustainable energy source. Indonesia and Malaysia, the two largest palm oil producing countries, are committed to produce sustainable palm oil compliance to international and national standards, as well as committed to international agenda on combating climate change and global warming. Both countries have put in place policy framework and regulations to ensure the sustainable development of the oil palm industry balancing the conservation of forest and biodiversity. The implementation of mandatory national sustainable certification schemes namely, Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) are important milestones of the industry, making palm oil the only vegetable oil subjected to stringent sustainable requirements vis-à-vis other vegetable oils. The industry focusses on increasing productivity through good agricultural practices and better planting materials without opening new land. The continuous improvement, technological advancements and innovation, coupled with the supports of relevant stakeholders including the Governments of palm oil producing countries have driven the positive development of the industry. The positive prospects in India are expected to be a pivotal growth frontier for the oil palm industry. The author is the Director of Strategy and Policy, Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC). Dr. Puah Chiew Wei About the Author: Dr. Puah Chiew Wei is the Director of Strategy and Policy of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC). She graduated from the University of Malaya, Malaysia with a Bachelor of Science (Major in Applied Chemistry and Minor in Statistics) and Ph.D. in Chemistry. She has more than 20 years of working experience in the Malaysian oil palm industry. Dr. Puah has authored and co-authored more than 180 publications in journals, book chapters, technical publications and reports as well as presentations in conferences and seminars at the national and international levels. She has five (5) patents filed and granted based on her research findings in the palm oil research including one technology that has been commercialised. Disclaimer: This content is sponsored and does not reflect the views or opinions of IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd. No journalist is involved in creating sponsored material and it does not imply any endorsement whatsoever by the editorial team. IE Online Media Services takes no responsibility for the content that appears in sponsored articles and the consequences thereof, directly, indirectly or in any manner. Viewer discretion is advised.
