(Image source from: Communicationstoday.co.in)
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has recently unveiled its final recommendations for implementing caller identification (caller ID) as a default feature on domestic telecommunications networks. This comes almost two years after the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) initially proposed the idea. According to the recommendations, all telecom companies are advised to offer Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) as a supplementary service upon customer request.
Trai has also presented a technical model to the government for the implementation of caller identification. The regulatory body suggests that the government should issue orders to all telecom companies to start providing this service within a specified timeframe. Under the recommended CNAP model, phone calls in India will display the name associated with the registered number when a call is received. Users will likely have the option to activate this feature upon request. After the DoT's proposal in March 2022, Trai conducted a consultation on CNAP in November 2022, followed by a consultation in March of the following year. The final recommendations have now been released based on the feedback received during these consultations.
After its introduction, the new feature is expected to compete with Truecaller, a caller identification service that operates on an ad-supported and subscription model. Telecom operators have not yet responded to Trai's recommendations. A representative from Truecaller stated that they do not consider the new feature to be a competitive service compared to the wide range of services and capabilities offered by Truecaller to its 374 million users. Truecaller's technology and AI capabilities go beyond basic number identification. However, it remains uncertain how this feature will be implemented nationwide and how it will align with the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, which is scheduled to be introduced later this year. This feature is likely to have some impact on Truecaller's user base in India, which is the company's main demographic.
