Over 13.6 Million mobile numbers disconnected till now to curb Telecom/Cyber Fraud

In the wake of rising cyber frauds involving financial loss to many citizens, the Government has rolled out a series of decisive, tech enabled measures in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in close coordination with the Ministry of Home Affairs. Under this program, more than 13.6 million mobile connections have already been disconnected based on feedback from people to curb telecom fraud.

As part of this initiative, a Digital Intelligence Platform has been developed, bringing together 620 institutions including 570 banks, 36 state police forces, investigative agencies, and telecom service providers, to jointly tackle fraud in real-time. The platform enables integrated action against scammers and cyber criminals who misuse telecom infrastructure to deceive citizens.

Through the combined inputs of these platforms, DoT has blocked 5.5 lakh handsets, and deactivated 20,000 bulk SMS senders. Nearly 24 lakh WhatsApp accounts involved in suspicious activities have also been disengaged, Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said in the Parliament responding to questions from the MPs.

The Government has introduced a key feature “Know Your Mobile Connections” service, which allows users to check all numbers issued under their name and report any unauthorized connections. This has resulted in the disconnection of 1.36 crore such numbers.

The Government has also deployed artificial intelligence tools, notably the ASTR system, to automatically detect and eliminate fake mobile numbers—leading to the disconnection of an additional 82 lakh such connections. Addressing the serious issue of international spoof calls, where foreign numbers appear as Indian calls, the DoT introduced a centralized software solution under the International Incoming Spoof Calls Prevention. On the very first day, 1.35 crore such spoof calls were blocked, and ongoing efforts have brought down such incidents by 97 percent. Today, only about three lakh spoof calls are being detected daily, compared to the earlier massive volumes. Telecom operators have also been mandated to display “International Call” alerts on all such incoming numbers for greater user transparency.

In a significant technological leap, the Fraud Risk Indicator (FRI) system was introduced to assess user risk levels—Very High, High, or Medium—based on banking and transaction behaviour. This risk data is shared with banks in real time, helping them prevent suspicious transactions. Over 3.7 lakh individuals have been flagged under these categories, leading to the prevention of more than 3.04 lakh debit/credit instructions and the freezing of 1.55 lakh bank accounts. Recognizing the system’s effectiveness, the Reserve Bank of India has instructed all banks to integrate FRI into their internal systems.

Additionally, the DoT has taken firm steps against misuse of Indian SIMs operating from Southeast Asian countries. Over 26 lakh such roaming mobile connections have been disconnected, and around 1.3 lakh devices used in such scams have been blocked, the Minister informed.

The DoT along with other regulators including Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and others has taken several measures to minimise such frauds involving huge financial losses. A series of meetings among regulators have been held to educate subscribers regarding scam calls, messages and alerting them not to respond to such communications.

These ongoing efforts signal the Government’s strong commitment to protecting citizens, securing telecom networks, and building a digitally secure India, the Minister said adding citizens are encouraged to remain vigilant and make full use of tools like the Sanchar Saathi portal and app to report suspicious activities, check their mobile connections, and help build a fraud-free digital ecosystem.