TRAI KYC-based caller ID: How this may ‘officially’ solve spam calls problem

The number of pesky or promotional calls we get daily is only increasing. It only becomes frustrating, as there is no way to figure out whether the call is important or just another salesman trying to sell you a credit card. Yes, there are third-party apps to identify callers, but even they don’t show the real names, as they rely on crowd-sourced data. However, the Indian telecom regulatory seems to have thought of a more-robust caller identification system based on the KYC, thus showing the caller’s real name.

A report notes that TRAI Telecom Regulatory Authority of India () plans to bring a KYC-based caller identity system to the country in the next three weeks. This would ensure that the only real name of the person but not an alias or some made-up name shows up every time someone receives a call from an unknown number.

Indian government’s caller identification system to rival Truecaller

This KYC-based caller identification would come as the government’s alternative to Truecaller, a Swedish caller-identification app for Android and iOS. The decision for an Indigenous comes after a number of meetings with stakeholders. “Trai has conducted several stakeholder consultations to iron out the issues,” PD Vaghela, Chairperson of TRAI, told HT.

Earlier this year in May, Alan Mamedi, the CEO and co-founder of Truecaller, had said in a press statement that the company does not see the Indian government’s caller-identification system as a competition but a driver for further growth in the country.

With the new system in place, the authorities would be able to keep a check on if the protocols are being followed or if telecom operators are taking some shortcuts for storing user data.

The report also suggests that the caller-identification would also be used for WhatsApp calls. So, users on WhatsApp would see the subscriber’s name and not the name used for the registration. Source