India has backed an ITU proposal for joint international trials to combat telecom fraud, fake caller identities and online scams.
Why Is India Seeking Global Cooperation?
India has formally supported a proposal by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to conduct cross-border trials aimed at preventing international telecom fraud and fraudulent caller identification.
Union Minister of State for Communications Dr. Chandra Sekhar Pemmasani announced the position during an ITU roundtable at India Mobile Congress 2026 in Yashobhoomi. He emphasised that international cooperation is necessary to address cyber-enabled fraud, including AI voice cloning, deepfakes and digital arrest scams.
According to the minister, such frauds caused losses exceeding ₹22,800 crore to Indian citizens in 2024.
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What Measures Has India Introduced?
Pemmasani outlined India’s five-layered telecom fraud prevention strategy, which prioritises early detection and real-time threat mitigation rather than relying solely on enforcement after incidents occur.
The measures include automated blocking of spoofed international calls and the Department of Telecommunications’ AI-powered ASTR system. The ASTR tool has identified and disconnected more than 82 lakh fraudulent mobile connections. The minister also highlighted the Sanchar Saathi platform, which has recorded 25 million downloads.
Meanwhile, the Digital Intelligence Platform connects approximately 1,600 banks, telecom operators and law enforcement agencies to support information sharing and fraud prevention.
How Much Fraud Has Been Prevented?
India’s Financial Fraud Risk Indicator mechanism has reportedly prevented estimated financial losses exceeding ₹5,000 crore over the past 15 months. The initiative forms part of the country’s broader approach to identifying suspicious activity and enabling faster intervention before fraudulent transactions result in financial losses.
However, Pemmasani acknowledged that domestic safeguards alone cannot adequately address fraud originating outside national borders.
He called for coordinated international action to strengthen caller verification and improve cooperation between telecommunications networks operating under different technical systems.
What Has India Proposed to the ITU?
India has proposed initial bilateral operational trials to refine international caller identity verification protocols before wider implementation. The initiative seeks to establish common digital verification standards across international telecommunications routes and different network architectures.
Pemmasani also advocated incorporating security protections directly into future 6G network specifications through a trust-by-design approach. Such measures would aim to protect emerging communications infrastructure against AI-enabled manipulation from the outset.
The proposal reflects India’s effort to combine domestic fraud prevention systems with international technical cooperation, particularly as cross-border scams increasingly exploit gaps between telecommunications networks.
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