Truecaller has publicly criticized India’s telecommunications regulator over policies affecting caller identification services. The company argues that the country’s anti spam framework has limited its ability to warn users about suspicious calls, making it more difficult to protect consumers from unwanted and potentially fraudulent communications.

The disagreement focuses on the dedicated 1400 and 1600 telephone number series introduced by Indian authorities for commercial calls. Regulators created these number ranges to help consumers distinguish legitimate business communications from telemarketing and service related calls while reducing phone scams.

According to Truecaller Chief Executive Officer Rishit Jhunjhunwala, the policy has produced unintended consequences. He said many users have lost confidence in calls from these official business numbers, with a significant number choosing to ignore or block them instead of answering.

Since Truecaller is not permitted to classify these numbers as spam, the company introduced a “Frequently Blocked” notification to alert users when a large number of people have rejected calls from a particular number. The company believes this feature provides an additional layer of protection while complying with existing regulations.

Truecaller plans to present its findings to the Indian government as part of the ongoing regulatory review. The company maintains that authorities should focus on taking action against individuals and organizations responsible for fraudulent calls instead of restricting platforms that help consumers identify suspicious communications.

Source: TechCrunch