Over 1 Cr Fraudulent Mobile Connections Disconnected With Help Of Sanchar Saathi: Ministry

More than one crore fraudulent mobile connections were disconnected with the help of Sanchar Saathi, the Ministry of Communications said in a statement on Tuesday. To curb the menace of spam calls, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has directed telecom operators to disconnect and blacklist entities using bulk connections for spam calls, including robocalls and pre-recorded calls.

In the last fortnight, over 3.5 lakh such numbers have been disconnected and 50 entities have been blacklisted. In addition, around 3.5 lakh unused or unverified SMS headers and 12 lakh content templates are blocked, the ministry said. It added that several measures have been initiated in this regard to enable spam-free, quality telecom service with high-speed data.

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) introduced a citizen-centric platform, Sanchar Saathi to fight cyber fraud, enabling citizens to report suspicious calls and messages. Till date, more than one crore fraudulent mobile connections have been disconnected with the help of Sancharsaathi. Further, 2.27 lakh mobile handsets have been blocked for involvement in cybercrime and financial fraud.

In parallel, with an objective of improving the network performance, benchmarks are to be gradually tightened for key network parameters like network availability, call drop rates, packet drop rates, etc. In this regard, Trai has released its revised regulations, ‘The Standards of Quality of Service of Access (Wirelines and Wireless) and Broadband (Wireline and Wireless) Service Regulations, 2024 (06 of 2024)'.

These regulations will come into effect from 1 October 2024 and from 1 April 2025, monthly monitoring of the QoS performance of mobile service will be started instead of on a quarterly basis. Revised QoS benchmarks for a few important parameters as per new regulations are given below.

The Trai has also issued consultation papers on provisions of immediate suspension of services of unregistered telemarketers on receipt of complaints beyond a pre-defined threshold number, and implementation of proactive detection and action on suspected spammers. The DoT and the Trai have been continuously engaged towards enhancing telecom services and security in India, through policies, ensuring infrastructure development, quality of service, and complaint redressal. (ANI)