TRAI mandates AI-led complaint centres, 16-hour human support

TRAI mandates 24/7 AI-enabled complaint centres, human support for 16 hours daily, faster appeals and penalties up to ₹20 lakh for mishandled cases.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has directed telecom operators and internet service providers (ISPs) to run round-the-clock complaint centres that can be handled by AI agents, while mandating human assistance for at least 16 hours a day. It has also introduced penalties of up to ₹20 lakh per quarter per service area for improper disposal or handling of consumer disputes, under amended telecom consumer complaint redressal rules released on Monday.

TRAI said the rules would be published in the gazette.

For the first time, the telecom regulator has included AI-based customer care services in a binding rule under the Telecom Consumer Complaint Redressal (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2026. The rules, amended after more than a decade, were last revised on July 1, 2014.

The amended regulation 3(3) requires AI systems to “operate with appropriate human oversight” and consumers to receive “a notification” that they are speaking to an AI agent.

Under the amended rules, service providers will be charged ₹1,000 for every complaint and ₹5,000 for every appeal found to have been wrongly disposed of, with penalties capped at ₹20 lakh per quarter per service area.

TRAI also directed operators to submit quarterly performance reports, including number of complaints and appeals received, disposed of and pending, time taken for disposal and feedback survey results, in a format specified by the regulator.

Late submission of quarterly reports will attract penalties of up to ₹5,000 a day for 15 days and ₹20,000 a day thereafter, capped at ₹10 lakh per licensed service area.

The draft regulations were released on May 7, with stakeholder comments invited until June 12 and countercomments until June 19. TRAI received 32 comments and 24 countercomments, which it uploaded to its website. An open house discussion was held on July 17.

Operators opposed the 24x7 complaint-centre requirement on cost grounds. In its explanatory memorandum, TRAI said some stakeholders objected to round-the-clock operations, “citing disproportionate costs and limited benefit”.

The regulator responded that the requirement “does not necessarily imply deployment of the same level of resources 24x7”.

TRAI received 73,081 complaints in 2025-26, up from 44,733 in 2023-24, pointing to dissatisfaction with operators’ grievance redressal systems.

Some stakeholders have also questioned whether TRAI can impose penalties through regulations. The penalties under the current rule are new, however the regulator has been imposing financial disincentives under the Standards of Quality of Service of Access (Wireline and Wireless) and Broadband (Wireline and Wireless) Service Regulations, 2024. This was also a concern for some stakeholders who said this may result in double penalties on telecom service providers. But TRAI said the two serve “distinct regulatory objectives”.

The telecom regulator has also scrapped the advisory committees and replaced them 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, with one saying it makes the system “operator reviewing operator”.

TRAI said the committees caused delays, making the appellate process inadequate. Appeal timelines have also been halved, with consumers getting 15 days instead of 30 to appeal and the appellate authority is required to decide within 15 days.

Helplines must use a standard IVRS menu with separate options for complaints, appeals and queries, along with 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 a non-chargeable numbers instead of a dedicated toll-free system, providers must set up dedicated desks and accessible apps for persons with disabilities, and records must be kept for six months, up from three.

ISPs with 10,000 or fewer subscribers are exempt from the rules, which consumer groups said leaves small-town and rural users without a remedy. Satellite service providers are also covered under the rules, while OTT services are outside TRAI’s jurisdiction.