TRAI to introduce Truecaller-like caller ID feature soon

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) may soon introduce a Truecaller-like caller ID feature that will display the name of callers based on their KYC.

Tired of spam calls? You may no longer have to worry about them as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) may soon introduce a Truecaller-like caller ID feature. The system would enable a KYC-based caller name to flash on the screen when you get a call from someone. The government, with its latest caller id scheme, aims to replace Truecaller in the country, which offers similar services.

Truecaller displays the name of the caller, even if the person’s name has not been added to the contact list. However, the name which Truecaller shows is not based on the KYC. Truecaller displays the name that has been set by the user. The information that is obtained by such apps is crowdsourced, so the authenticity of such apps is questionable.

The Department of Telecom (DoT) has given a nod to the TRAI to start work on the caller id feature. As per PTI TRAI Chairman PD Vaghela said the regulator is expected to begin work on it in a couple of months. “We have just received a reference, and we will start work on this soon. The name as per KYC will appear when someone calls. The mechanism will enable name-appearing on a phone screen, in accordance with KYC done by telecom companies, as per DoT norms,” Vaghela said.

The caller ID feature will not be forced upon the users. The TRAI says that it is going to be a consent-based, voluntary programme. The subscriber will have the power to decide whether or not to have their names displayed. This will keep spam calls at bay.

Reacting to the government’s decision to introduce it, Truecaller’s spokesperson said: “We welcome any and all actions in the mission to make communication safe and efficient”.

“Number identification is crucial to ending the menace of spam and scam calls and we, at Truecaller, have been working tirelessly towards this important mission for the past 13 years. We appreciate this move by Trai and would like to reiterate that we remain very supportive of this and any future initiatives they have,” the spokesperson added