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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has introduced new regulations requiring telecom service providers to register their network-interconnection agreements through an online portal, replacing an outdated system that still required physical documents and electronic copies on storage media.
The Register of Interconnect Agreements (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2026, announced on November 6, will take effect on January 1, 2027.
Under the revised framework, telecom operators must submit existing and new interconnection agreements within prescribed deadlines, maintain searchable electronic records and comply with updated procedures for regulatory inspection.
TRAI has also revised the fees for accessing the register and introduced a graded system of financial penalties for violations.
The changes are intended to make telecom agreements easier to maintain, examine and retrieve while improving regulatory oversight of arrangements between service providers.
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Telecom Companies Must Register Agreements Within 15 Days
Interconnection agreements govern how different telecom networks exchange traffic, allowing customers of one service provider to communicate with customers using another network.
For example, when a subscriber of one mobile company calls a person using a different operator, the networks must have technical and commercial arrangements that allow the connection to work.
These arrangements are documented through interconnection agreements.
India has maintained a regulatory system for registering such agreements since 1999. However, the existing procedures relied on physical submissions and electronic copies supplied through older storage formats.
Under the revised regulations, operators will register agreements and subsequent modifications through a dedicated TRAI portal.
Agreements already in force on January 1, 2027, must be submitted within 15 days of that date.
New agreements must be registered within 15 days of execution, while amendments to existing agreements must be submitted within 15 days of modification.
The requirements will allow the regulator to maintain a more current record of commercial and technical arrangements connecting India’s telecom networks.
Operators will also be required to submit agreements in text-searchable PDF format.
Unlike scanned documents that contain only images of printed pages, searchable PDFs allow authorised users to locate particular words, provisions and technical terms more efficiently.
This could reduce administrative delays when regulators need to examine specific clauses or compare agreements.
Public Access To Telecom Agreements Moves Online
Another significant change concerns access to the official register.
TRAI currently maintains records of interconnection agreements under its statutory responsibilities.
The amended framework will allow people to apply electronically for inspection of the register and request copies or extracts through the online portal.
The existing physical inspection facility will also remain available.
However, the digital-access provision does not mean that every commercial agreement will automatically become freely downloadable by the public.
Access will remain subject to the relevant regulatory conditions, prescribed procedures and applicable fees.
TRAI has revised the inspection fee to ₹1,500 for every hour or part of an hour.
Copies or extracts from registered agreements will cost ₹500 per page.
The revised charges are broadly aligned with the regulator’s existing access-to-information framework.
These changes could make the process more convenient for eligible applicants who previously needed to rely on physical inspection or document requests.
A searchable digital register may also make it easier for regulatory officials to identify discrepancies and examine the conditions under which different networks interconnect.
The regulator has further authorised the collection of disaggregated information in specified formats.
This means TRAI may require service providers to submit particular categories of information separately, rather than supplying only broad or combined figures.
The information must be furnished within the period specified by the regulator.
Such standardisation could support more consistent examination of network arrangements and improve the reliability of regulatory records.
Financial Penalties Introduced For Non-Compliance
The amendments also establish a graded framework of financial disincentives for violations.
TRAI says the system is intended to make enforcement more proportionate to the seriousness and nature of different breaches.
The framework will apply to contraventions of the registration and related requirements under the amended regulations.
The government announcement does not specify the individual penalty amounts or the complete procedure for assessing different categories of violations.
Those details are contained in the underlying regulatory instrument and should be considered separately when examining particular compliance cases.
The new requirements do not directly change mobile tariffs, broadband prices or the charges consumers pay for calling people on other networks.
Their purpose is to strengthen the administrative and regulatory framework governing agreements between telecom companies.
The regulations also do not introduce new cybersecurity incident-reporting obligations or customer identity verification requirements.
Instead, they focus on how interconnection agreements are submitted, maintained and made accessible under the regulator’s oversight.
Changes Follow Consultation With Telecom Stakeholders
The amendments follow an extended regulatory review that began with a pre-consultation paper issued on April 3, 2025.
TRAI subsequently published a formal consultation paper on November 10, 2025, inviting stakeholders to examine existing rules governing telecom interconnection.
Seventeen stakeholders submitted comments, while nine provided counter-comments.
An open-house discussion was held on January 28, 2026, after which the regulator finalised the changes.
The amendment forms part of broader efforts to update rules governing telecom infrastructure and network operations.
TRAI also released separate changes to its technical interconnection framework on November 3, 2026.
Those earlier amendments concern how networks exchange traffic and should not be confused with the November 6 rules governing registration of interconnection agreements.
The latest regulations address a narrower but important administrative function: ensuring that information about arrangements between telecom operators is submitted consistently and remains available for regulatory examination.
Whether the digital system improves efficiency will depend on the portal’s implementation, the quality of submitted records and how quickly requests for information are processed.
What This Means For You:
Mobile and broadband customers do not need to take any action. The changes concern telecom operators, but better regulatory records could support greater transparency and oversight of the networks that connect their services.
