On February 23, 2024, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued its recommendations on Introduction of Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) Service in Indian Telecommunication Network. The recommendations were issued in response to the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) reference letter dated March 21, 2022. The DoT requested TRAI to examine the feasibility of introducing CNAP. In view of the reference letter, TRAI issued a consultation paper on the Introduction of CNAP on November 29, 2022. Based on the comment and input received from stakeholders and its analysis, the TRAI issued recommendations to introduce CNAP services.
The CNAP service enables the called party to receive the calling name information of the calling party. Currently, only the mobile/ landline numbers are displayed as Calling Line Identification (CLI) during incoming calls. There is no mandate in the license for providing CNAP supplementary services.
The idea for introducing CNAP emanated from the need to curb unsolicited commercial communication and fraudulent calls intended to deceive the consumers. In absence of the identification of calling party, telephone subscribers avoid attending calls from unknown telephone numbers to prevent themselves from unsolicited commercial communication. Sometime, genuine telephone calls may go unanswered by the subscriber due to this reason. Robo calls and IT enabled system has further made the spam calls worse whereby fraudulent and unscrupulous telemarketers attempt to obtain personal and sensitive information from the individuals to defraud them. TRAI, while analysing the matter, admitted that even the registered telemarketers are bypassing the legal procedure and are making calls from the 10-digit number rather than 114 series number designated to the telemarketers.
TRAI noted that it is necessary that the calling party should be identified to reduce and curb the menace of fraudulent and spam calls. The CNAP service displays the name of the calling party and would allow the called party to take an informed decision while attending an incoming call. Additionally, it eases the procedure to trace and identify the spam calls and will minimize incidents of impersonation wherein certain callers uses fake name and deceive customers by falsely representing themselves as personnel speaking on behalf of an entity. It will empower the customer to combat spam calls and would reduce the harassment of subscribers from such calls.
Although it could have its benefits, there are underlying privacy and other concerns with the introduction of CNAP. The Cellular Operators Association of India, and the telecom service providers Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea, also deliberated upon the privacy and other regulatory issues. Name and identity information is confidential personal data. Disclosure of such data without the consent of the caller could potentially violate an individual’s privacy. There could be several reasons where caller may prefer not to reveal her name to the called party, especially journalists and whistle blowers. Discovery of the name and identity of certain people could put at risk their life, property, or any professional or personal interest.
Additionally, know your customer process is not foolproof. There are instances where cell phone connections have been issued on forged documents. Considering that identity of the caller is proposed to be sourced from Customer Application Form, there is possibility that such information may not be accurate and could defeat the very purpose of targeting the spam calls.
Furthermore, its financial implications should also be evaluated while introducing this service. There is a likelihood that there will be additional financial burden on telecom service providers that could be transferred on to the consumers.
Based on the stakeholder’s comments and feedback, the TRAI recommended the following measures.
Recommendations
■ Introducing CNAP services:
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- All access service providers should provide CNAP supplementary service to their telephone subscribers upon their request.
- The calling name (CNAM) of each telephone subscriber should be provided by the originating access service providers.
- CNAM of the telephone subscribers, who have availed the calling line identification restriction (CLIR) facility, should not be presented to the called party.
■ Name source to be used for displaying calling name:
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- The name identity information provided by telephone subscribers in the Customer Application Form (CAF) should be used for the purpose of CNAP.
- For the telephone subscribers, whose legal name have got changed since the time of submission of the CAF, a suitable mechanism should be established by access service providers, to amend the name information of telephone subscribers.
■ Technical model for implementing CNAP service: TRAI recommended implementation of technical model considering Indian telecommunication network that is based on circuit-switched (CS) core.
■ Measures to ensure delivery of CNAP: A trial and assessment of the implementation of CNAP supplementary service should be conducted prior to its introduction on pan-India basis in Indian telecommunication network.
■ Hardware devices: The Government should issue appropriate instructions for making CNAP feature available in all devices sold in India after a suitable cut-off date, say after six months from the date of notification
■ In case of telephone calls originating from 140 level numbers allocated to registered telemarketers, and any other number series allocated for making transactional or service-related calls, the name information of the subscriber entity should, invariably, be presented to the called party.
■ The subscriber entities holding bulk connections and business connections should be given the facility of presenting their ‘preferred name’ in place of the name appearing in the CAF.
■ Amendment to UL regime:
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- The definition of Calling Line Identification (CLI) given in the Annexure-I of Unified License should be amended.
- A new term ‘Calling Name (CNAM)’ should be included in the Annexure-I of the Unified License.
- A new term CNAP should be included in the Annexure-I of the Unified License.
- The Licensee will ensure that CNAP supplementary service is provided as per the guidelines issued by the Licensor from time to time.
While the recommendations by TRAI are well intentioned and targeted at addressing a severe problem for consumers with devastating consequences of fraud in several cases, the measures may still be inadequate and potentially misdirected. Some stakeholders have pointed out the risks to privacy and security, while others have highlighted that mere identification of a name rarely empowers a user to know if the call is a legitimate or an unsolicited spam call. Furthermore, it will rely on KYC data which in itself is undergoing review due to its inefficiencies in building better trust and security.
This problem of unsolicited commercial calls includes issues that range across aspects from mere annoying spam to fraudulent activities that threaten the safety and security of people and the nation. It will need more nuanced and coordinated measures that go beyond the current form of recommendations on CNAP.