Note on Ongoing DCA (Digital Consent Acquisition) Pilot for Finalizing New Consent Registration Function (CRF)

Oct 6, 2026

The document provides a note on the ongoing Digital Consent Acquisition (DCA) pilot led by India’s Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), supported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It explains why adoption of consent for promotional calls and messages is limited, how the pilot improves real-time consent verification, and how participants, including telecom service providers and RBI-regulated banks, will test consent management. It also instructs customers on DND registration relevance and what to do when receiving consent notifications.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages3

Reading Time8 min

AccessFree to download

Purpose and need for the Pilot initiative

Participants in DCA Pilot

DND registration is necessary to make digital consent effective

Why you are receiving the Consent Notification

Feedback

Note on ongoing DCA (Digital Consent Acquisition) Pilot for finalizing new Consent Registration Function (CRF) 1. Purpose and need for the Pilot initiative This pilot project is an initiative by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and is supported by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) . Its ultimate objective is to ensure that the customers get promotional calls and messages from businesses and other entities (senders) only if they have given their consent to receive such call and messages. Although TRAI has mandated a framework for acquiring the consent of the customers by the business for making promotional calls and sending messages, and also placing such consents on a shared digital platform of the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) so that before any such communication is sent to the customer, his/her consent is verified yet its adoption by Business entities, including banks, has been minimal. This has resulted in a continued reliance on consents available with the senders in offline mode which are not updated on the digital platform for checking them in real time. Existence of such legacy consents in offline form often leads to opaque consent practices by the sendersas it is not possible for the telecom service providers to verify such consents in real time. Therefore, such practices contribute to Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) or spam, reliance on outdated consents, and loss of consumer trust in promotional channels. Furthermore, offline consents do not allow customers to access, view, or manage their consent preferences, forcing them to resort to complaints against senders—creating a lose-lose scenario for both businesses and customers. The Digital Consent Acquisition Pilot has, therefore, been initiated to address these problems. 2. Participants in DCA Pilot All the telecom service providers (Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio, QTL, RCOM, STPL, TTL and Vodafone Idea) and some of the major RBI-regulated banks, namely, SBI, PNB, Axis Bank, Bank of Maharashtra, Canara Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, ICICI, HDFC, Indian Overseas Bank, and Punjab & Sind Bank are participating in this pilot project. These participating banks are uploading the existing consents ofthe customers, available with them, on sample basis to the shared digital platform of the TSPs, and will also upload new consents ofthe customers as and when these banks acquire such consents. After the consents are placed on the digital platform, these consents will be checked by the TSPs before any promotional call or message is delivered to the customers. The pilot also evaluates the technical readiness of all entities involved, test consent management by the customers, and identifies implementation challenges prior to nationwide deployment. 3. DND registration is necessary to make digital consent effective Do Not Disturb (DND) registration provides customers with the ability to block promotional communication, while the Consent Registry empowers them to create specific exceptions for chosen entities, such as a bank. DND registration remains the foundational mechanism for exercising control over promotional communications. Ifa customer is not registered under DND, it is interpreted that the customer has implicitly consented to receive all categories of promotional communication, rendering any consent recorded in the Consent Registry operationally irrelevant. DND registration can be completed easily through a few steps using the TRAIDND App. Customers may also register by calling or sending an SMS to 1909, or by using the mobile applications and websites of their respective TSP. Further, the TRAI DND App and the other channels mentioned above can also be used by customers to lodge complaints relating to spam or UCC in a convenient and timebound manner. 4 . Why you are receiving the Consent Notification As part of this pilot, customers of participating banks may receive SMS from numbers beginning with 127 i.e. 127xxx.

FAQs

What problem does the DCA pilot address?

It addresses limited adoption of digital consent by business entities, which forces reliance on offline legacy consents that cannot be verified in real time. This can contribute to unsolicited commercial communication (UCC) and reduced customer trust.

Who participates in the DCA pilot?

All participating telecom service providers and major RBI-regulated banks upload existing and new customer consents to a shared digital platform. The telecom service providers check consents before delivering promotional calls or messages.

Why is DND registration necessary for digital consent to be effective?

If a customer is not registered under DND, it is interpreted that the customer has implicitly consented to receive all categories of promotional communications, making consent registry entries operationally irrelevant.

What should customers do when they receive a consent notification SMS from 127xxx?

They should open the SMS, use the link to access the consent portal, review how consent information is presented and managed, verify consent visibility and revocation options, and report any issues related to notification behavior, portal accessibility, record accuracy, and revocation workflow.

Oct 6, 2026

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