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About 300,000 illegal telemarketing companies axed by TRAI
NEW DELHI: A total of about 300,000 telephone connections of un-registered telemarketers have been disconnected by the Access Service Providers and the name and address of 25,295 such subscribers have been put into the blacklist.
Minister of State for Communications and Information Technology Milind Deora told Parliament that this follows concerted action taken by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
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TRAI issued the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference (Twelfth Amendment) Regulation on 23 May this year. This regulation provides for disconnection of all the telecom resources of subscribers sending unsolicited calls/SMSs, blacklisting of the name and address of such subscribers for two years, disconnection of telecom resources to such subscriber by the other service providers within twenty four hours of blacklisting of such subscriber. No telecom resources shall be allotted to such blacklisted subscriber by any Access Provider for two years.
Through the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation, 2010 TRAI has laid down a revised framework for addressing Unsolicited Commercial Communications (UCC) and these regulations came into force with effect from 27 September 2011. TRAI has also issued various amendments to these regulations and a number of directions to make the regulatory framework more effective.
The Minister said complaints related to unauthorised telemarketing activity from un-registered telemarketers (who are not registered with TRAI), had increased during the last one year.
To make the framework more effective an amendment to the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulation (Tenth Amendment) has been issued by TRAI on 5 November last year to further control the unsolicited commercial communications, especially relating to commercial SMS from unregistered telemarketers. One of the key provision of this regulation includes restricting unregistered telemarketers from sending bulk promotional SMSs using software applications.
Through this regulation TRAI has mandated the Access Service Providers to put in place a solution, which will ensure that no commercial SMSs are sent having same or similar characters or strings or variants from any source or number. The solution will ensure that no more than 200 SMSs with such similar ‘signature‘ are sent in an hour.
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With 57 per cent single new users, Ashley Madison rebrands as discreet dating platform
Platform says majority of new members now identify as single
INDIA: Ashley Madison is shedding the “married-dating” label that defined it for two decades, repositioning itself as a platform for discreet dating in what it calls the post-social media age.
The rebrand, unveiled in India on 27 February, 2026, marks a structural shift in business model and identity. Once synonymous with married dating, the company now describes itself as the “premier destination for discreet dating” under a new tagline: Where Desire Meets Discretion.
The pivot is data-driven. Internal figures show that 57 per cent of global sign-ups between 1 January and 31 December, 2025 identified as single: a notable departure from the platform’s married core. The company argues that its community has already evolved beyond its original positioning.
“In an age where our lives have been constantly put on public display, privacy has become the new luxury,” said Ashley Madison chief strategy officer Paul Keable. He framed the platform’s offering as “ethical discretion” for singles, separated, divorced and non-monogamous users seeking private connections.
The shift also taps into wider digital fatigue. A global survey conducted by YouGov for Ashley Madison, covering 13,071 adults across Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, the UK and the US, found mounting discomfort with hyper-public online lives.
Among dating app users, 30 per cent cited constant swiping and messaging as a source of fatigue, while 24 per cent pointed to pressure to curate public-facing profiles and early personal disclosure. Some 27 per cent said fears of screenshots or information being shared contributed to exhaustion; an equal share cited unwanted attention.
The retreat from oversharing appears broader. According to the survey, 46 per cent of adults actively try to keep most aspects of their life private online. Only 8 per cent feel comfortable sharing most aspects publicly, while 35 per cent say they are becoming more selective about what they disclose.
Ashley Madison is betting that this cultural recalibration towards controlled visibility can be monetised. By doubling down on privacy infrastructure and reframing itself around discretion rather than infidelity, the company is attempting to convert reputational baggage into a premium proposition.
