TRAI Teams Up with RBI to Digitise Legacy User Consent in Banks

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), in collaboration with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and select banks, has launched a pilot project aimed at digitising legacy user consents for receiving commercial communications. This initiative marks a significant step toward curbing rising incidents of financial frauds linked to spam calls and messages.

Why It Matters?

Paper-based user consents—still widely used in banking and financial services—pose a significant challenge in traceability and verification, often becoming a loophole exploited by fraudsters. By digitising these legacy records, TRAI and RBI aim to:

• Enhance accountability of consent collection
• Protect consumers from unsolicited communication
• Strengthen the overall security of mobile and banking ecosystems

Key features of the pilot include:

• Identification and digitisation of historical paper-based consents
• Integration with digital consent acquisition systems
• Ensuring real-time verification and traceability of customer permissions

The model may be extended to other high-risk sectors such as:

• Insurance
• E-commerce
• Digital lending