India's Telecom regulator TRAI has mandated that for activation of mobile value added services, across types of scenarios - Outbound Dialer (OBD), Voice Portal (IVRS), WAP, Mobile Internet, USSD, SMS and Telecalling, or any other method - telecom operators need to provide a system which takes a second consent from the customer before it is enabled. The notification stipulates that "The first offer of a service is on the service providers’ platform and a second confirmation from the customer is through a dedicated consent gateway which is owned by a third party and not by the service provider." This means that when a consumer subscribes to a service, the request will first have to go to the service provider, and then to a third party for a second layer of confirmation. In addition, upon activation of VAS service, the de-activation number, the validity of the VAS service and charges for renewal should be explicitly informed. - Our take on Activations: There will be a significant decrease in subscriptions. The attempt from the telecom operators was to taken on the responsibility of activations using a centralized gateway, saying that they will take responsibility of confirming a subscription. The TRAI has accepted that by making the telecom operator the first port of call, but mandating a second factor of authentication that is not managed by the telecom operator makes the whole procedure complicated. There is a clear hint here that the TRAI does not trust the telecom operators, when it says that…
