DoT to Launch Pilot for CNAP on Cell Phones to Combat Spam and Fraud Calls

The Department of Telecommunications (DoT)  will soon run a pilot program in response to the telecom regulator’s financial recommendations on operators implementing the caller’s name display service on cell phones, an official from the government stated.

The feasibility of implementing CNAP (Calling Name Presentation) on the network layer or physical layer will be studied by DoT, and the results will be used for the final implementation. 

CNAP is being thought of as a means of reducing the number of spam and fraud calls, which have significantly increased in recent times. 

As part of the recommendations, TRAI stated that after a suitable cut-off date from the date of notification, the government should issue appropriate instructions for making CNAP available in all mobile phones which are marketed in India.

It also suggested holding a trial in a single service region where all telecom operators should participate. Additionally, it recommended that all telecom carriers should take part in a trial that is conducted in a single service region. 

Nevertheless, it is unclear from TRAI’s recommendations whether CNAP will be applied to over-the-top apps like WhatsApp.