To tackle telecom fraud, the government announced on Friday that it had deactivated over 3.4 crore mobile connections and blocked 3.19 lakh IMEI numbers through the Sanchar Saathi portal. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) stated that using AI and Big Data has also disabled 16.97 lakh WhatsApp accounts.

Additionally, more than 20,000 bulk SMS senders were blacklisted as part of the ‘Sanchar Saathi’ initiative, according to Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, Minister of State for Communications and Rural Development, in a written response to the Rajya Sabha.

The government allows citizens to report suspected fraudulent communications through the Chakshu facility on the Sanchar Saathi portal. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) then analyses these reports and takes action against telecom resources involved in misuse, the minister stated. Instead of acting on individual complaints, DoT relies on crowdsourced data to detect patterns of misuse. It employs AI-based tools and big data analysis to identify mobile connections acquired using fake documents.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and telecom service providers (TSPs) have developed a system to detect and block international spoofed calls in near real-time. The minister stated that these calls falsely display Indian mobile numbers and appear to originate from within the country.

Additionally, telecom providers have blacklisted 1,150 entities or individuals and deactivated over 18.8 lakh connections. As a result of these measures, complaints against unregistered telemarketers (UTMs) have significantly declined, dropping from 1,89,419 in August 2024 to 1,34,821 in January 2025.

On February 12, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) introduced amendments to the Telecom Commercial Communications Customer Preference Regulations (TCCCPR), 2018.

Under the revised rules, customers have up to seven days to report spam or unsolicited commercial communication (UCC), an extension from the previous three-day limit. Additionally, telecom providers must take action against UCC from unregistered senders within five days, significantly reducing the earlier 30-day timeframe.