MEDIANAMA
Technology and policy in India
Telecom companies are now attaching suffixes such as ‘-S, -T, and -P’ to the headers of commercial SMS messages. MediaNama has independently confirmed that the message tags have been appearing for users across the country since as far back as May 7 this year.
This comes as an implementation of the amended spam regulation—Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (TCCCPR), 2025. Under Schedule I of the regulation, telecom companies have to formulate the structure and format for the headers of commercial communication. The regulation also requires companies sending out commercial messages to register their headers & message templates on telecom companies’ DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) platform.
To make the header structure more useful, the regulator suggested that telecom companies should suffix as part of the message header so that customers can easily identify transactional, service, promotional, and government messages (-T, -S, -P, and -G, respectively). In the consultation for these amendments last year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had mentioned that telcos were already working on implementing these suffixes.
Just like every other step within the TCCCPR, the regulator intends to use the suffix to address the menace of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC, or spam). Besides the suffixes, TRAI had suggested two other approaches telcos could implement to ensure that customers can identify the purpose of a message:
The suffix system ended up as the most feasible option because it does not require telcos to make changes to their billing system. This ensures that the costs for implementing this solution are low.
While major telcos like Reliance Jio, and BSNL were onboard with implementing this solution when TRAI suggested it during the consultation process, Vodafone Idea (Vi) opposed the move. Vi stated that such a suffix was not required and would reduce the flexibility for companies sending commercial messages to adequately represent their brand name.
Message headers consist of 11 characters, of which the sender telco takes up the first two, followed by a ‘-’, then the company sending the message has six characters to represent their brand name with the option of extending the character limit to eight. “By putting suffix for category of message, this flexibility will no more be there and will reduce the value creation in a SMS header,” the company explained.
Airtel, on the other hand, agreed with the need for identifying message purposes but did not clarify its stance on the suffix approach. It emphasised that the categories for messages should be distinct, so that customers do not end up conflating one message header with the other.
While TRAI’s purpose with the regulation is to inform telecom customers about the purpose for which a company is contacting them, it is unclear how many customers even pay attention to the message header in such detail. If the user ignores the suffix as an undecipherable part of the message header (just like the sender telco’s code), how would it help them distinguish between spammers and legitimate commercial communication?
MediaNama has reached out to the telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) to confirm nationwide rollout of the suffixes. We will update the copy once we hear back from them.
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MediaNama is the premier source of information and analysis on Technology Policy in India. More about MediaNama, and contact information, here.
© 2024 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd.
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Technology and policy in India
Telecom companies are now attaching suffixes such as ‘-S, -T, and -P’ to the headers of commercial SMS messages. MediaNama has independently confirmed that the message tags have been appearing for users across the country since as far back as May 7 this year.
This comes as an implementation of the amended spam regulation—Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (TCCCPR), 2025. Under Schedule I of the regulation, telecom companies have to formulate the structure and format for the headers of commercial communication. The regulation also requires companies sending out commercial messages to register their headers & message templates on telecom companies’ DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) platform.
To make the header structure more useful, the regulator suggested that telecom companies should suffix as part of the message header so that customers can easily identify transactional, service, promotional, and government messages (-T, -S, -P, and -G, respectively). In the consultation for these amendments last year, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had mentioned that telcos were already working on implementing these suffixes.
Just like every other step within the TCCCPR, the regulator intends to use the suffix to address the menace of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC, or spam). Besides the suffixes, TRAI had suggested two other approaches telcos could implement to ensure that customers can identify the purpose of a message:
The suffix system ended up as the most feasible option because it does not require telcos to make changes to their billing system. This ensures that the costs for implementing this solution are low.
While major telcos like Reliance Jio, and BSNL were onboard with implementing this solution when TRAI suggested it during the consultation process, Vodafone Idea (Vi) opposed the move. Vi stated that such a suffix was not required and would reduce the flexibility for companies sending commercial messages to adequately represent their brand name.
Message headers consist of 11 characters, of which the sender telco takes up the first two, followed by a ‘-’, then the company sending the message has six characters to represent their brand name with the option of extending the character limit to eight. “By putting suffix for category of message, this flexibility will no more be there and will reduce the value creation in a SMS header,” the company explained.
Airtel, on the other hand, agreed with the need for identifying message purposes but did not clarify its stance on the suffix approach. It emphasised that the categories for messages should be distinct, so that customers do not end up conflating one message header with the other.
While TRAI’s purpose with the regulation is to inform telecom customers about the purpose for which a company is contacting them, it is unclear how many customers even pay attention to the message header in such detail. If the user ignores the suffix as an undecipherable part of the message header (just like the sender telco’s code), how would it help them distinguish between spammers and legitimate commercial communication?
MediaNama has reached out to the telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) to confirm nationwide rollout of the suffixes. We will update the copy once we hear back from them.
Also read:
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Prof. Neuwirth explains OpenAI’s Stargate and how sovereign democratic AI aligns with data localisation in India.
SC rejects Vodafone Idea, Airtel’s plea for AGR dues waiver; directs firms to seek relief outside court.
MediaNama is the premier source of information and analysis on Technology Policy in India. More about MediaNama, and contact information, here.
© 2024 Mixed Bag Media Pvt. Ltd.
source