The government has now instructed telecom operators to start trials where names of callers are displayed for unknown numbers or those that are not saved in your phone book, in order to keep a check on pesky calling and cyber frauds.
Telcos Starting Trial To Display Caller Name
Surpringinly this move is now opposed by most telecommunication firms.
Despite being seen as a consumer friendly move, the telcos are raising concerns over customer privacy as “technical challenges” to oppose an immediate nationwide rollout.
But it appears that the department of telecom (DoT) is being firm in its demand for beginning initial test-runs on Calling Name Presentation (CNAP).
These companies are understood to have begun “limited trials” in Mumbai and Haryana, with plans to add more cities over coming weeks, according to the sources.
In this regard, a senior executive in a top telco said, “Trials are beginning on limited numbers as we try and assess feasibility of CNAP, where not only the number but even the name of the caller will be displayed during incoming calls. We will be sharing the results of trials with DoT so that a practical and justifiable view of the proposed service can be taken,” on the condition of anonymity.
Earlier, the issue of identifying the name of the calling person – sourced from the customer application form – was conceived by DoT.
Moving anead, DoT had referred the issue to Trai.
How Does This Affect?
In this regards, DoT said in its reference to Trai, “Telephone consumers, at various fora, have raised a concern that in absence of the calling party name presentation facility, they prefer not to attend calls from unknown telephone numbers, as most of such calls are unsolicited commercial communications (UCCs) from un- registered telemarketers. As a result, even genuine telephone calls go unanswered… Telephone consumers have also raised their concern in respect of robocalls, spam calls, and fraudulent calls… Through fraudulent calls, certain individuals attempt to obtain details of bank account/ one time- password (OTP) with an aim to defraud consumers.”
Technical Difficulty Or Reluctance?
Contrary to this requirement, the telecom service providers such as Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio have said that this should “not be a mandatory service.”
Further adding that “there will be many technical issues like increased load on signaling and possible impact on latency and interconnection related issues.”
Other players including Airtel have raised the concerns saying there are “likely to be techno-commercial challenges” involved in implementing the measure.
Adding that CNAP would need to adhere to the privacy laws “Privacy is an important consideration, and the framework is going to have to address the genuine concerns of users who may not be keen to share their details.”
According to Voda Idea, CNAP should be “introduced as an optional service” and should not be mandated upon telcos.
