Govt Will Show Caller ID For Every Call Via KYC-Data Of Users; Caller Identification Apps No More Needed?

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is planning to launch a feature/service to identify spam callers using their KYC details. 

Benefits Over Market Alternatives

It wants to devise a system that would allow service providers to display the name of the caller alongside the number.

This should bring greater accuracy and transparency than some apps that identify callers based on crowdsourced data.

Now, this is something that is a weakness for Truecaller. 

Although it displays the caller’s name, it is not based on the KYC, but rather set by the user.

The information that is obtained by such apps is crowdsourced, so the authenticity of the caller IDs is questionable.

Using Fancy Tools, Roping In Telcos

The name to be displayed with TRAI’s iteration will be as per the KYC (Know Your Customer) details shared by the subscriber of that particular number.

Telcos ask users to complete the KYC process before they are issued a SIM card.

It is said to be in talks with telecom service providers to develop Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning tools to target unsolicited commercial calls.

TRAI’s system will be consent-based and voluntary so those who don’t want their names displayed can opt out. 

Which means that spam callers can opt out too, but TRAI says that this is only a preliminary outline of the plan.

Truecaller Is All In 

The regulator will release a consultation paper on the issue and lay out the fineprint.

If properly implemented, this could become comparable to Truecaller which would be a huge achievement.

Truecaller is supportive of the government’s move and said that it welcomes “any and all action in the mission to make communication safe and efficient”.

Number identification is crucial to end the menace of spam and scam calls, it noted. 

It would like to “reiterate that we remain very supportive for this and any future initiatives they have”.

Extent Of The Menace

Community-based social media platform LocalCircles reported that 64 percent of 9,623 mobile users surveyed receive at least three spam calls per day.

Of those same respondents an incredible 95 percent said they had registered for the Do Not Disturb service, which is mandatory under TRAI rules but to no avail.

51 percent of the spam calls offer financial services, such as personal, business or home loans at low interest rates and/or top-ups on existing loans. 

Real estate offers, with callers urging mobile users to buy land or a house, comprised 29 percent of all spam calls.

The report said that fines may discourage spammers to an extent, but its success hinges on the implementation mechanism and ease of reporting.