TRAI opens consultation on responsible AI in telecom until 27 November

India’s Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released draft Guidelines on Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Telecommunication Networks and Provision of Telecommunication Services on 30 October 2026. Its Press Release No. 145/2026 invites written comments from stakeholders by 27 November 2026.

The consultation is intended to translate the Government of India’s February 2026 India AI Governance Guidelines into sector-specific expectations. TRAI said AI is increasingly being integrated into telecom networks and services, and that the draft aims to improve “clarity, predictability and accountability” while supporting responsible implementation.

For telecom compliance teams, the immediate practical question is whether the company’s use of AI affects network operations, service delivery or the resilience of infrastructure on which public and essential services depend. Firms that want to influence the proposed approach must submit comments before the 27 November deadline.

A sector-specific supervisory signal

TRAI describes telecommunications as part of India’s digital infrastructure. The sector supports public connectivity, essential e-services, trade and commerce, and the secure and resilient operation of critical information infrastructure. The authority also links telecom directly to national security and emergency response.

Atlas reads the consultation as a signal that AI governance in India will increasingly be applied through sector-specific expectations, rather than left solely at the level of broad national principles. For telecom firms, the relevant risk question is therefore likely to extend beyond the performance of an AI model to its effect on service continuity, network security, customers and public reliance on communications infrastructure.

The release follows an earlier stakeholder consultation, but TRAI’s two-page information note does not set out the draft’s control-by-control requirements. It establishes the policy purpose and scope, rather than providing a complete compliance checklist. Firms should therefore review the draft itself before treating any particular governance, testing or reporting measure as a proposed requirement.

The framework behind the draft

The India AI Governance Guidelines are anchored in seven guiding “sutras”:

- “Trust is the Foundation”
- “People First”
- “Innovation over Restraint”
- “Fairness & Equity”
- “Accountability”
- “Understandable by Design”
- “Safety, Resilience & Sustainability”

Part 4 of the government framework provides practical guidance for industry actors and regulators. TRAI says its draft is designed to apply that guidance consistently to telecom networks and the provision of telecom services.

In Atlas’s view, the combination of accountability, understandable-by-design principles and safety, resilience and sustainability is particularly relevant to AI embedded in operational systems. It points towards questions about who owns an AI-enabled function, how its effects can be understood, and how services remain safe and available when the system fails. Those are supervisory themes indicated by the announcement, not final duties imposed by TRAI.

Stakeholder comments should be sent, preferably electronically, to Akhilesh Kumar Trivedi, TRAI’s Advisor (Networks, Spectrum & Licensing), at advmn@trai.gov.in by 27 November 2026.