India
TRAI Imposes 24/7 AI Complaint Centres with 16‑Hour Human Support and New Penalties
By Sejal Sharma
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued new rules requiring telecom operators and internet service providers (ISPs) to operate complaint centres that are available 24/7 and are managed by AI agents, with human assistance provided for at least 16 hours each day. The updated Telecom Consumer Complaint Redressal (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2026, also introduce penalties of up to ₹20 lakh per quarter per service area for improper handling of consumer disputes.
Under the amended regulation 3(3), AI systems must operate under appropriate human oversight, and consumers must be notified when they are speaking to an AI agent. Service providers will be charged ₹1,000 for each complaint and ₹5,000 for each appeal that is found to have been wrongly disposed of, with the penalties capped at ₹20 lakh per quarter per service area.
Operators are required to submit quarterly performance reports that include the number of complaints and appeals received, disposed of and pending, the time taken for disposal, and feedback survey results. Late submission of these reports will attract penalties of up to ₹5,000 per day for the first 15 days and ₹20,000 per day thereafter, capped at ₹10 lakh per licensed service area.
The draft regulations were released on 7 May, with stakeholder comments invited until 12 June and countercomments until 19 June. TRAI received 32 comments and 24 countercomments, which were uploaded to its website. An open‑house discussion was held on 17 July. Operators opposed the 24/7 requirement on cost grounds, citing disproportionate costs and limited benefit. TRAI clarified that the requirement does not necessarily imply deployment of the same level of resources 24/7.
In 2025‑26, TRAI received 73,081 complaints, up from 44,733 in 2023‑24, indicating dissatisfaction with operators’ grievance‑redressal systems. Some stakeholders questioned whether TRAI can impose penalties through regulations, noting that penalties under the current rule are new. TRAI said the new penalties serve distinct regulatory objectives from those under the Standards of Quality of Service of Access (Wireline and Wireless) and Broadband (Wireline and Wireless) Service Regulations, 2024.
The regulator has also replaced advisory committees with oversight committees in every service provider to oversee and periodically review the functioning of its grievance‑redressal mechanism. Consumer groups, who sent 22 of the 32 comments on the draft, opposed the move, arguing it makes the system “operator reviewing operator.” TRAI said the committees caused delays, making the appellate process inadequate.
Appeal timelines have been halved: consumers now have 15 days to appeal instead of 30, and the appellate authority must decide within 15 days. Other key changes include: - Helplines must use a standard IVRS menu with separate options for complaints, appeals and queries, a human option and a call‑back facility. - Complaints can be registered through apps and websites, with status updates by SMS and email, and service must be offered in a state official language besides Hindi and English. - After every closed complaint, consumers will be asked to rate the resolution from 1 to 5, and the results will be published quarterly. - Disputes must be resolved through non‑chargeable numbers instead of a dedicated toll‑free system. - Providers must set up dedicated desks and accessible apps for persons with disabilities. - Records must be kept for six months, up from three.
ISPs with 10,000 or fewer subscribers are exempt from the rules, a point raised by consumer groups as leaving small‑town and rural users without a remedy. Satellite service providers are covered under the rules, while OTT services remain outside TRAI’s jurisdiction.
The rules will take effect 30 days after Gazette publication. The oversight committee, survey and reporting rules apply after 60 days, and the 24/7 centres, IVRS and app rules after 90 days.