Union Communications Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Monday highlighted major progress in India’s battle against telecom fraud, stating that the Sanchar Saathi portal has been accessed by over 15.5 crore users—a significant milestone in the country’s digital security efforts.
Speaking to the media, Scindia said coordinated anti-fraud steps have reduced spoofed calls by 97%.
“We were earlier receiving 1.35 crore spoofed calls daily. That number is now down to just 3 lakh,” he said. A key tool in this crackdown is the ASTR system (Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification). It has flagged and disconnected 82 lakh mobile connections obtained with fake documents. Additionally, 1.75 crore numbers were deactivated for exceeding subscriber limits.
The AI-powered platform compares demographic data and facial images across SIM card applications to detect fraudulent patterns.
In a multi-pronged approach:
5.1 lakh handsets used in fraud were blocked.
24.46 lakh WhatsApp accounts were disabled.
20,000 bulk SMS senders were blacklisted.
71,000+ retail points of sale were blacklisted.
780 FIRs have been registered to tackle fraud at the ground level.
The Sanchar Saathi portal, launched by the government, offers tools for individuals to monitor and report suspicious mobile numbers using features like “Not My Number” and “Not Required”. With over 16 crore hits and 2 lakh daily users, it has become a major public resource.
Through its CEIR (Central Equipment Identity Register) feature, users can report lost phones and get them blocked across all networks. So far, 35 lakh devices have been blacklisted, 21.35 lakh traced, and 5.07 lakh returned to owners.
Telangana has emerged as the top state in mobile phone recovery, with 88,301 handsets returned to owners. Cybercrime DGP Sikha Goyal credited structured training of district officers by the CID for the success. To stop spoofed calls from abroad, India introduced the CIOR system, which blocked 1.35 crore spoofed calls within 24 hours of launch in October 2024. Telcos now display “International Call” alerts for foreign numbers, and 308 international aggregators have been banned.
The government also launched the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP)—a network of 620 organizations, including central agencies and state police forces—to strengthen India’s telecom security framework.