No, some registrars are still the one that manage the communication with the registry. A big reason for the registry, registrar and registrant model is so that

No, some registrars are still the one that manage the communication with the registry. A big reason for the registry, registrar and registrant model is so that the registry do not interact directly with customers. It also depend on the type of registry. .se for example allow registrars to set registry lock automatically but not unlock. Unlocking is a manual process and there is contractual conditions that the registrar must have verified the identity of the customer who is requesting the unlock, and the registrar must also sign to that fact. So far no registrar has failed yet to do so, thus the legal ramification of failing this has yet to be tested.