When someone phones, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India will begin consultations on defining a method for callers’ KYC-based names to appear on phone screens.
On Saturday, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) announced that it is developing a new method that will display the caller’s name on the phone screen of the recipient.
Only after a phone number is saved in the contact list does a name appear on the phone screen.
In this context, TRAI stated that it will shortly begin consultations on designing a system for callers’ KYC-based names to be displayed on phone screens when they call.
According to news agency PTI, the telecom regulator has received a referral from the Department of Telecom to commence consultations on the matter (DoT).
The consultation on this is scheduled to begin in a few months, according to Trai Chairman PD Vaghela.
“We just received a referral and will begin working on this as soon as possible.”
When someone calls, their name will show according to KYC,” Vaghela explained.
In this regard, TRAI has already been considering comparable options, but with the telecom department’s particular approval, work on this will begin soon.
“The method will allow names to appear on a phone screen in accordance with KYC done by telecom firms in compliance with DoT standards,” Vaghela explained.
The TRAI’s judgement is significant because the method will help identify callers based on their KYC (Know Your Customer) information, providing higher accuracy and transparency than some apps that use crowdsourcing data to identify callers.
According to sources close to the situation, once the foundation for a new KYC-based procedure is finalised, identity verification will become more clear and legally tenable.
Furthermore, because there will be KYC linkages, the method will have a ripple effect, resulting in data clean-up on crowdsourcing apps.
TRAI also stated that it has employed blockchain technology to address the issue of unsolicited commercial communication (UCC), also known as spam calls and mails.
According to experts, a KYC-based caller identification mechanism would protect customers from increasing occurrences of spam calls and fraud.
“We support any and all activities in the quest to make communication safe and efficient,” a Truecaller spokeswoman stated in an email statement.
“Ending the nuisance of spam and scam calls requires number identification, and we at Truecaller have been working relentlessly on this critical objective for the past 13 years.”
We applaud Trai’s initiative and want to emphasise that we continue to support it and any future initiatives they may have,” the business representative added.
