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Voice calling in India

  • Understanding Voice Call Audits in India

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) amended the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018 on 12.02.2025, which has the following key provisions:

    • A customer can make a complaint against spam or Unsolicited Commercial Communication (UCC) within 7 days of receiving spam.
    • The service providers (like Plivo) must take action within 5 days of receiving the complaint.

    As outlined in Plivo’s acceptable use policy, all customers using Plivo’s services must adhere to local laws and regulations, and not adhering to them can lead to suspension and/or termination of Plivo services.

    1. Factors leading to an audit 

    The following practices lead to an audit of your traffic - you might be asked to share additional details to close the audit in your favour:

    • Calls to users who have not opted for your services - e.g., cold calling
    • Repeated calls to users despite their rejection of calls - e.g., user busy
    • Calling users who opted in a long time ago but may not be interested in your services now.

    2. What does Plivo do when a complaint is received on one of the calls originating on its platform?

    Telecom providers receive complaints from the users, they identify the service provider (e.g., Plivo) responsible for the origination of this traffic, and then they reach out to the respective service provider. Upon receiving the complaint, Plivo’s compliance team identifies the customer responsible for making such a call and reaches out to them with the following details:

    • Caller Number: This is the Plivo number used to make the call
    • Callee Number: This is the number that is being called
    • Timestamp: Timestamp of the call (in IST hours)
    • UUID: The UUID associated with the call on Plivo’s platform


    3. What action must be taken by the Plivo customer to close the audit?

    Primarily, the customer must provide evidence of the recipient's consent, which clearly outlines that the recipient agreed to receive calls from the customer. Here are some guidelines:

    • Ensure you submit clear and high-quality images to avoid back and forth.
    • The company logo/name, recipient name, recipient number, and consent date must be included—note that a screenshot from a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) tool is acceptable.

    The details must be provided within 3 business days.

    Additionally, the customer must remove the aforementioned callee number from their calling list to avoid future complaints. Using a different Plivo number to reach out to the same callee number will be considered a violation and can lead to service disruption. 

    4. What if a customer is unable to provide the details asked by Plivo?

    If no evidence is provided within 3 business days, the associated Plivo number will be removed from the customer’s account. In certain situations, Plivo might block the account permanently depending on the severity of the violation.

    Upon submission of details, Plivo’s compliance team will review them and reach out to the customer if additional details are required. The final details are submitted to telecom providers, and once they close the audit, the customers will be informed of the same.

  • Requirements for Sending SMS and Calls to India

    Summary:

    Business Registration Country       Requirement for Sending Traffic to India
    India
    • Must use India domestic routes*
    • Need Goods and Services Tax (GST) registration details
    • All payments must be in INR
    • GST must be paid on the invoiced amount
    Outside India
    • Cannot use India domestic routes
    • International taxes may be applicable
    • All payments must be made in USD

    *Read below to know more about domestic routes in India
    Details:

    A .  For Businesses Registered in India

    1. What are the requirements for sending traffic to India?

    To meet traffic compliance, businesses sending SMS or making calls to India via domestic routes must meet specific requirements.

    Domestic routes are defined as follows:

    • SMS: If you have completed your DLT registration (Distributed Ledger Technology).
    • Voice/SIP Trunking: When using Plivo India’s rented numbers to make or receive calls within India. Read more about the process and KYC details required to rent an India number here.

    The following additional details are required for invoice and taxation purposes:

    GST:
    If your business is registered for GST, you need to provide your GST details to Plivo.
    If your business is not registered for GST, you must self-declare your status as GST Unregistered on the Plivo console.
    Payment in INR:
    All payments for domestic SMS and Voice services must be made to Plivo’s India entity and must be in Indian Rupees (INR)

    Note: The currency and payment to the specific entity are auto-handled when you make Credit Card payments by Plivo on your console.

    2. Can a business registered in India send traffic internationally?

    Yes, businesses registered in India can send traffic to both Indian and international destinations. However, this requires the creation of two separate accounts. This is how you can create these accounts and the options you should choose depending on your needs while adding your card for the first time - please note that these can’t be changed later: 

    • To send Traffic within India via domestic routes:
      1. Create an account
      2. When entering your Indian billing address, select "India only" when prompted.

    1. Provide your GST details.

    1. All payments will be in INR (Indian Rupees), 
    2. All invoices will be in INR, billed by the Indian service provider, with GST applied to your invoice.
    • To send Traffic outside India: For sending international traffic:

      1. Create a new account
      2. When entering your billing address here, select "Outside India" when prompted.

    1. No GST details are required.
    2. All payments will be in USD (U.S. Dollars), with no GST, but applicable international taxes may apply.

    B. For Businesses Registered outside India

    Businesses not registered in India can still send traffic to India, but the process differs:

    • These businesses can send traffic to India using international routes only. Check pricing for international routes (Voice & SMS).
    • Select your registration country - as per your registration details - while entering your billing address. 

    If a business wants to send traffic to India via domestic routes, it must have a business entity registered in India, and traffic must be sent by said entity.

  • What is the process for renting a local number in India?

    To rent a local number in India, you need to create and submit a compliance application with all the required information. 

    To avoid potential rejection of your application, please provide detailed and accurate information when submitting your compliance application. Pay special attention to fields like “call flow”, “call content” and “document upload” as these fields result in most rejections. You can refer to the following samples for guidance. 

     

    Field Samples
    Call Flow

    Use this field to explain the business justification to initiate calls to your users. Also, specify whether your use-case requires both inbound and outbound calling. 

     

    Suppose you have a contact center use-case, you can use the following call flow 

     

    We publish our numbers on our customer support portal so that our customers can call the number in case of any queries or issues.  We only require inbound calling for our use case.

     

    Suppose you have an AI voice agent use case, you can use the following call flow

     

    We will initiate outbound calls to leads who have shown interest in our products. Once the call is answered, we will use Plivo’s audio streaming to deploy a conversational audio bot that will inquire about the customer's interest.
    Call Content

    Use this field to provide sample of your calls - you do not need to provide all the samples.

     

    Suppose you have a contact center use-case, you can use the following call flow 

     

    Thank you for calling XYZ support. How can I help you today? 

    Suppose you have an AI voice agent use case, you can use the following call flow

     

    Hi {Customer Name}, this is a call from {Company X} to discuss your recent interest in our product {abc}
    Document Upload Use this field to share a screenshot from your website showing how your end users agree to receive calls from your company. If you don't have a screenshot, please provide a PDF document explaining how consent is obtained from your users.

    2. What are the prerequisites for renting an India number at Plivo?

    To rent an India number, you must submit a compliance application, which will be reviewed by the Plivo team. Once your compliance application is approved, you will be able to rent India domestic numbers from the Plivo console and Numbers API.

    Please note that you will not be able to use the India local number to initiate or receive calls until the compliance application is approved.

    3. What is the compliance process if I am purchasing numbers for my end customers?

    If you are purchasing a number on behalf of your end customer, you will be considered a reseller.

    As a reseller, you are required to submit a compliance application that includes the KYC documents and details of your end customer.

    This means that when submitting the compliance application, you must provide the end customer’s KYC documents along with the required details to ensure regulatory compliance. 

    4. How long does it take to review my compliance application for renting India domestic numbers? 

    Typically, our internal teams are prompt in validating compliance applications. However, during periods of high submission volume, it may take 48 business hours to process your application.

    An approved compliance application will appear as follows.

    5. What use cases are not supported by Plivo for utilizing India numbers?

    Certain use cases are not supported when utilizing India local numbers, including:

    • Sending unsolicited telemarketing traffic.
    • Placing outbound calls without obtaining prior consent from the end user. 
    • Placing repeated calls to an end user who has expressed disinterest in receiving such calls.
    • Using India numbers to make calls through SIP trunking solutions.

    6. My compliance application has been rejected. What should I do? 

    If your compliance application has been rejected, it is likely due to an incomplete explanation of the use case or missing information. Please review your application, make the necessary corrections, and resubmit it.

    7. I am unable to rent numbers from the Plivo console even though my compliance application is approved. What should I do? 

    If your compliance application is approved but you are unable to rent numbers, please contact our support team for assistance.