OTP, a new scam?

Telecom companies have voiced their concerns over recent guidelines of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), which may have their bearings on delivery of important service messages, including one-time passwords (OTPs) for online transactions, from November 1. The new rules envisage that telecom operators must ensure that messages sent from the principal entities (PEs) to customers can be tracked. Currently, telecom operators do not have the facility, which according to them, might be tantamount to breach of the subscribers’ trust. A senior official of the Jio said that fresh guidelines from the TRAI focus on customers, who may potentially face difficulty with services like online payments, delivery of parcels, etc, as transactions are linked with OTPs. The fresh norms will be applicable across categories, including banks, e-commerce platforms and financial institutions. “This means any messages with mismatched sender details or without a clear sender identity will be blocked,” clarified the official.