How do I complain about spam calls and unsolicited commercial messages in India (TRAI DND)?

The National Customer Preference Register (NCPR) — commonly called the DND Registry — is maintained under the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018. You can register, or change, your preference in any of these ways:

1. TRAI DND app (Android/iOS) — register as 'Fully Blocked' (no promotional calls/SMS at all) or opt into specific categories (banking, real estate, education, health, etc.);
2. Your telecom operator's own app or website (e.g. MyJio, Airtel Thanks, Vi App) — most carriers now offer the same NCPR registration in-app;
3. Call or SMS '1909' (toll-free) — the original short code, which still works without a smartphone app.

A DND registration does not block transactional messages (OTPs, delivery updates, bank alerts) or communications from telemarketers in categories you've opted into — it only blocks unregistered/unsolicited commercial communication. App names and exact steps are occasionally updated, so confirm the current registration process on the Sanchar Saathi or TRAI website.

If you receive an unsolicited commercial call or SMS from an unregistered sender, you can lodge a complaint against that specific number under the TCCCPR:

1. SMS 'COMP' to 1909 (or use the complaint feature in the TRAI DND app) within 7 days of receiving the call/SMS — this window was extended from the earlier 3 days by TRAI's 2025 amendments;
2. Keep the sender's number and the date and time of the call or SMS handy — you'll need these to file;
3. Complaints build a case against repeat offenders — under the current threshold, 5 complaints against the same number within 10 days can trigger action by the telecom operator;
4. You can also raise the same complaint directly through your telecom operator's customer-care channel or app (MyJio, Airtel Thanks, Vi App, etc.), which feeds into the same NCPR system.

TRAI revises these windows and thresholds periodically, so confirm the current complaint window and short code on the TRAI or Sanchar Saathi website before relying on a specific figure.

For communications that go beyond unwanted marketing and attempt fraud, impersonation or financial deception — fake KYC-update calls, lottery/job-offer scams, officials or relatives being impersonated, fake customer-care numbers — use the Sanchar Saathi portal's 'Chakshu' facility instead of, or in addition to, the ordinary 1909 UCC complaint:

1. Go to sancharsaathi.gov.in → Citizen Centric Services → Chakshu – Report Suspected Fraud Communication;
2. File the report within 30 days of receiving the call, SMS or WhatsApp message;
3. Provide the sender's number, the date/time, the category of suspected fraud, and — optionally — a screenshot;
4. Chakshu reports feed into the same process that lets the Department of Telecommunications and operators block or disconnect the numbers and SMS headers involved.

If the communication actually caused a financial loss — for example a fraudulent transfer or a phishing link that compromised your bank account — also pursue the specific remedy for that: see our guides on getting a refund after UPI fraud and remedies for phishing and scam calls. If your number itself was hijacked to facilitate the fraud, see our SIM-swap recourse guide.

Once a valid UCC complaint is lodged, telecom operators (Access Providers) are bound by TCCCPR timelines and enforcement rules:

1. Action against an unregistered sender must be taken within 5 days of a qualifying complaint (reduced from 30 days under the 2025 amendments);
2. On the first violation of the complaint threshold, all outgoing telecom resources of the sender are typically barred for 15 days;
3. Repeat violations can lead to disconnection of the telecom resource and blacklisting of the entity against future allotment;
4. TRAI also directly blocks SMS headers and blacklists bulk-messaging entities found to be sources of large-scale UCC or fraud traffic, independent of individual complaints.

The Telecommunications Act, 2023 underpins this framework — it empowers the Central Government to prescribe measures for user protection, including a 'Do Not Disturb' register, a requirement of prior consent for 'specified messages', and a mechanism for users to report messages sent in violation. Exact complaint windows, thresholds and penalty periods are set by TRAI regulations and are revised periodically — confirm the current figures on the TRAI or Sanchar Saathi website before citing a specific number in correspondence.

If your operator fails to act within the prescribed timeline, or you're unsatisfied with the outcome, escalate in this order under TRAI's telecom consumer grievance-redressal framework:

1. Customer care / complaint centre of your telecom operator — straightforward complaints should be addressed within a few days;
2. If unresolved or unsatisfactory, escalate in writing to the operator's Nodal Officer for your service area (contact details are published on every operator's website under 'Complaints' or 'Grievance Redressal');
3. If still unresolved, appeal to the operator's Appellate Authority — the final internal tier;
4. If the matter remains unresolved for an extended period after exhausting the operator's internal tiers, you can escalate the broader pattern of non-compliance to TRAI and/or lodge a grievance on CPGRAMS (Department of Telecommunications). TRAI itself generally does not re-adjudicate a single consumer's UCC complaint, but tracks and acts on recurring violations by senders and lapses by operators;
5. For fraud-related reports filed through Chakshu, you can separately track the status of your report on the Sanchar Saathi portal.

Keep every complaint reference number — from 1909, the DND app, or Chakshu — since each escalation tier will ask for it.