TRAI releases the Register of Interconnect Agreements (Fourth Amendment) Regulations to put registration online

6 November 2026

The telecom regulator has brought out fresh amendment regulations covering the register of interconnect agreements, and they start to apply from 1st January 2027. Networks run by different companies have to be joined to one another, through commercial and technical arrangements, before a subscriber of one operator can reach a subscriber of another; that joining is what interconnection means. Rules framed in 1999 first set out how such agreements are to be registered and how the register is to be kept. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act gives the Authority the duty of keeping that register and of letting the public inspect it after paying the prescribed fee. Wanting the framework to stay current and transparent, the Authority first floated a pre-consultation paper, then a full consultation paper. Seventeen stakeholders sent comments and nine sent counter-comments, and an Open House Discussion was also held. The chief change is that every service provider must now register its interconnect agreements online.