OTPs For Transactions Likely To Be Affected From November 1. Here's Why

Telecom companies have raised concerns over a new directive by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) that is likely to disrupt the delivery of important service messages, including OTPs for online transactions, to customers from November 1.  

As online transactions and various services are linked to One-Time Passwords (OTPs), the telcos say customers may face difficulty with several services from online payments to delivery of parcels.

According to TRAI's new guidelines, telecom companies must make sure that messages sent from Principal Entities (PEs) to customers can be tracked. The new rules on message traceability come into effect from November 1.

The guidelines will be applicable across categories, including banks, e-commerce platforms and financial institutions. This means that any messages with mismatched sender details or without a clear sender identity will be blocked.

Meanwhile, the telecom service providers have raised concerns over the implementation of new guidelines as the telemarketers and PEs haven't put in place the necessary technology to follow this new rule, according to an Economic Times report.

The telcos have requested the regulator to extend the deadline by at least two months, according to the report.

Currently, OTPs play an important role in securing online transactions, ensuring that only authorised individuals can complete these processes. However, preparations are underway to introduce an alternative safety method aimed at fraud prevention.

Telecom operators have informed TRAI that while their systems are ready for the November 1 deadline, the necessary preparations on the part of telemarketers and PEs are lagging. As such, the PEs and telemarketers require additional time to ensure appropriate scrubbing of the messaging traffic to minimise any disruption. The industry has asked TRAI to permit them to put the mandate into “logger mode” beginning November 1, allowing messages to flow without disruption in the event of discrepancies.

To mitigate potential issues, telecom operators have committed to sending daily reports to telemarketers and PEs. They expect the rule to be fully implemented by December 1.

This is the second time the telecom sector has asked for a one-month extension to adhere to TRAI's commercial message mandate. In response to the telcos' request for additional time to set up necessary systems, the regulator had earlier extended the deadline for whitelisting messages including URLs, OTT links and other related information by one month, to October 1. Following the extension, most PEs and telemarketers have come on board, with the systems operating smoothly.