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To curb fake calls, cyber fraud, digital arrest and unwanted spam calls in the country, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) of the Central Government has implemented a major and decisive amendment in the rules related to caller identification. Till now, the identification of any telecom call was mainly limited to the caller’s mobile or landline number and in data based calls, his IP address. Under the new amendments, the government has expanded the legal definition of ‘Calling Line Identification’ (CLI) to mandatorily include the subscriber’s registered name. After this change in the terms of the Unified License Agreement, only the real name recorded in the customer data record of the telecom operators will be considered as the official identity of the caller. This new rule is going to be effective from 1 November 2026. From the technical experts of Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, to the millions of smartphone users across the country, this change will prove to be very effective on both privacy and security levels.
According to the official notification issued by the Department of Telecommunications, the existing provision of the licensing rules that defined the technical identity of the caller has been changed. In the earlier provisions, calling line identification meant only the telecom identifier assigned to the user by the operator—such as a 10-digit phone number, landline number, IP address allocated to the data network or any other technical parameter prescribed by the licensor from time to time. Now under the revised definition, this provision has been clearly added that in calling line identification, along with the number and IP address given by the service provider, the ‘name of the user’ (Name of the User in Customer Data Record) recorded in the database of telecom companies will also be a mandatory component. The government has made this amendment in the licensing rules using its special powers with the aim of ensuring national security, public interest and transparent operation of telecom services.
The technical backbone of this policy change is the Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) system. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had recommended making the CNAP mechanism mandatory at the network level to combat fake calls. Under this system, whenever an unknown call comes on a person’s mobile, not only the 10 digit unknown number will flash on the phone screen, but the official name entered in the Customer Application Form (CAF) and e-KYC at the time of purchasing that SIM card will also be displayed on the screen. The Department of Telecommunications has given instructions to smoothly implement this system on 4G and 5G networks. Its biggest advantage will be that the real identity of the fraudsters who make fake calls in the name of bank officers, police or government investigation agencies will be immediately exposed. Apart from this, arrangements are also being made to display ‘International Call’ tag clearly on the screen to identify internet and spoofed calls coming from foreign numbers.
Currently, most smartphone users rely on Truecaller or other third-party caller ID apps to identify unknown numbers. However, the identity system of these apps works on crowdsourced data, which means that the name with which a user has saved a number, the same name appears on the screens of others. Due to this, fraudsters often got their names crowdsourced as bank executives, police officers or CBI officers. The new system will be directly linked to the government Aadhaar and ID-verified database of telecom operators. This will not require the consumer to download any additional app to their phone, give permission to contacts or drain the battery. This information will be sent directly to the handset at the network level, which will completely eliminate the scope for wrong or misleading names.
Apart from individual users, the government has also set strict rules for commercial and institutional calls. Calls made by banks, insurance companies, delivery aggregators and corporate institutions will have their Verified Trade Names displayed so that customers can decide whether the call is urgent or spam. At the same time, security measures have also been included to protect the privacy of general consumers. For those consumers who wish to keep their identity confidential for security reasons, the option of special relaxation of Calling Line Identification Restriction (CLIR) will be available. If a user has taken CLIR facility from the competent authority, his/her name will not be displayed normally. The purpose of the new rules is to give every common citizen the basic right to know who the real person is as soon as his phone rings.