Key Details
The Register of Interconnect Agreements (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2026 update an existing registration requirement, changing the filing deadline, format and means of access.
Area | What Changes From 1 January 2027 |
|---|---|
Filing deadline | New interconnection agreements and modifications must be registered within 15 days, down from 30 days. Agreements already in force on 1 January must also be submitted within 15 days of that date. |
Submission | Operators must use a TRAI portal and provide text-searchable PDFs; printed and floppy-disk copies are no longer required. |
Access | Applications to inspect the prescribed part of the register or obtain copies can be made online. Physical access remains available. |
Fees | Inspection costs ₹1,500 per hour or part thereof; copies or extracts cost ₹500 per page. |
Compliance | TRAI may seek specified, detailed information for the register and impose graded financial disincentives for breaches. |
An Existing Register Gets Faster, Searchable Filing
An interconnection agreement sets out how telecom providers connect their networks and exchange traffic. These arrangements allow, for example, a customer of one operator to call a customer of another. TRAI has maintained a register of such agreements under regulations dating from 1999.
The amendment does not create the duty to register agreements. Its principal change is to make filings quicker and easier to examine: operators have 15 days to submit new or modified agreements, and the documents must be searchable electronic copies. Existing agreements must be placed on the new system when the rules take effect.
Online Access Does Not Mean Every Agreement Becomes Public
People will be able to apply through the portal to inspect the portion of the register made available under the regulations and request copies or extracts. Access remains subject to the rules and fees; this is not an unrestricted public database of operators’ commercial contracts.
TRAI can also request information in specified formats on matters such as technical arrangements, quality of service, charges and revenue sharing. Financial disincentives are intended to make the filing and information requirements enforceable, with operators given an opportunity to respond before an order is made.
This Is Separate From the New Rules on How Networks Connect
TRAI’s earlier interconnection amendment addresses the technical operation of network connections, including a phased shift to IP-based interconnection. The present rules address the record of agreements between operators. Both begin on 1 January 2027, but the registration amendment should not be presented as itself changing call routing or call quality.
Policy Relevance
For operators, the immediate task is to transfer existing agreements to the portal and meet the shorter deadline for future filings. For TRAI, searchable, more current records could make it easier to check whether interconnection arrangements comply with its rules and to examine changes across providers.
Subscribers have no new filing obligation or immediate service entitlement under this amendment. Its potential value to them is indirect: better oversight of the agreements that allow different networks to communicate. Whether the digital register improves that oversight will depend on complete submissions, a usable portal and meaningful access to the prescribed records.
Follow the Full Regulation Here: Register of Interconnect Agreements (Fourth Amendment) Regulations, 2026